Nazi Symbols Found On Roof Of Elementary School In Frankfort

FRANKFORT, IL — Just days before Nazi sympathizers caused havoc and turmoil in Charlottesville, Virginia, multiple hate messages were found on the roof of an elementary school in unincorporated Frankfort, according to a Will County Sheriff's Office report.

Sheriff's police responded to Indian Trail Elementary School at 20912 S. Frankfort Square Road on August 7 to a report of graffiti left on the roof of the school. An item in the Sheriff's weekly police blotter indicates a person "climbed to the roof of the school and caused damage to the rubber roof surface and rooftop air handlers by spray painting Nazi symbols with florescent orange paint." The incident was reported to have taken place sometime between August 3 and 7.

Frankfort Police Chief John Burica said that the incident occurred outside of the jurisdiction of the Frankfort Police Department, but that Frankfort police would be "willing to assist in any way we can" if the Will County Sheriff's Office reached out to them.

Barb Rains, superintendent of the Summit Hill School District 161, of which Indian Trail is a part of, said the images were found during an inspection of the roof at the school.

"When the graffiti was discovered during an inspection of the roof, we followed our protocol and called Will County Sheriff’s Office to file a report.," Rains said in an email to Frankfort Patch on Monday.

Officials at Indian Trail referred comment to Rains.

Kathy Hoffmeyer, a spokeswoman for the Will County Sheriff's Office, said there are no suspects in the investigation and that there was no video submitted as part of the evidence.

"There was fencing there that someone would have had to climb," said Hoffmeyer, who added that school officials have indicated plans to alter it in attempts of preventing a similar occurrence in the future.

The find at Indian Trail came less than a week before Nazi flags were prevalent during a rally in Charlottesville that was called to protest the removal of a statue of confederate general Robert E. Lee. The chaos from the rally, which included images shared of white nationalists holding torches at night, spilled over until the next day when one person was killed and 20 others injured as a car drove through a crowd of counter-protesters.