Wednesday, July 2, 2002
When Rabbi Rosalind Gold, from the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation, came into work on the morning of Monday, June 24, she didn’t notice the graffiti at St. Thomas á Becket Catholic Church next door. But Gold "thought maybe the [vandals] mistook the church for the synagogue."
Some of the doors and windows at St. Thomas á Becket Catholic Church, which is adjacent to the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation along Wiehle Avenue, had been marked with swastikas and obscene words, according to police. The vandalism was classified as a bias crime.
Until recently, the Hebrew Congregation has used the Catholic Church for some religious services, and the two congregations maintain a healthy relationship.
When heard about the incident, she offered to help clean up the graffiti, written with a substance other than spray paint, but members of the Catholic church had already finished that task. Gold said the incident made her "angry, but mostly sad."
"One assumes it was done by a kid who doesn’t know the impact of a swastika, and what it would mean to people," Gold said.
Courtney Young, public information officer with the Fairfax County Police Department, said police have no suspects in the crime and assume it occurred late Sunday night, June 23, or early on the morning of June 24.
"I imagine people wouldn’t do it in daylight," Young said.
A swastika was found painted on an Annandale sidewalk a few weeks ago, but Young said there is no reason to believe the crimes are linked because "at this time we have no suspects." Neither could she link the St. Thomas á Becket crime to a recent rash of anti-Jewish pamphleting in the Town of Herndon.
The last bias crime at the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation happened 20 years ago, Gold said, when swastikas were painted on the building.
"Unfortunately, things like that happen," she said.
Police are asking anyone with information regarding the incident to call 703-691-2131.