Swastika Found In Bellevue Painted On City Property

File photo: Someone spray-painted swastikas on cars and other property last winter in Edmonds, one of a number of hate graffiti incidents around Puget Sound recently.

BELLEVUE, WA - Bellevue police located a swastika spray-painted on city property last week, which is at least the third incident of hateful graffiti found in the city since August. The swastika was found painted in orange on a footbridge in the Lake Hills neighborhood last Wednesday afternoon.

Nearby, police found the word "muerte" (which in Spanish means "death") written. Police determined that the swastika was on city property, and so city workers were contacted to clean it up. Police did not find a suspect. The graffiti was found near the 500 block of 150th Avenue Northeast.

On Sunday, Bellevue police responded to the home of a Bellevue School District nurse after she found "KKK" written on her driveway in black paint. The homeowner, Carrie Lang, suspects the vandal was retaliating for political signs outside Lang's home that show support for gay rights and Islam.

On Aug. 18, officers responded to a bus stop at the intersection of 100th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 8th Street and found three swastikas spray-painted on the sidewalk.

Regionally, police have seen an uptick in reports of vandalism featuring hate symbols and bias crimes. In July, Edmonds police arrested a suspect in a series of vandalism incidents involving swastikas and racist slogan. This week, Seattle police released a report on bias crimes in the city that showed an increase over the first half of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. However, Seattle police believe the increase is due to a heightened awareness of such crimes and more willingness among the public to report them.

Image via Edmonds police