Swastika Painted On Front Door Of House; Town Condemns Hateful Crime

CHATHAM – Local officials are strongly condemning the person or people who spray-painted a swastika and other graffiti on a house under construction earlier this week.

On Wednesday, the police received a report of a swastika spray-painted in red on the front door of the house on Cedar Street. Also painted on the house was “MAGA” and other graffiti.

Town officials condemned the act in strong terms Thursday.

“This kind of destructive behavior involving such hateful imagery has no place in our community,” Town Manager Jill Goldsmith wrote in a news release. “Chatham prides itself on being a welcoming and inclusive town, and we will not tolerate actions meant to intimidate or divide us.”

Chatham Police Lieut. Sarah Harris said the vandalism did not appear to target any individual person, and no arrests had been made yet. Police are actively investigating.

“We take this matter very seriously and are pursuing all leads to identify those responsible,” Police Chief Michael Anderson wrote in the news release. “We urge anyone who may have seen suspicious activity in the area to contact the Chatham Police Department.”

The graffiti, which had been removed by Thursday morning, is part of a proliferation of antisemetic incidents in recent years, according to the Anti-defamation League.

“The community must hold the individual/s responsible accountable. If hateful acts like this are allowed to be normalized they grow — just as we’re seeing,” said ADL New England Regional Director Samantha Joseph. “Regardless of who the perpetrators are, education and accountability are key to addressing a hate incident such as this one.”

Joseph said that in addition to publicly condemning the act, the town should consider organizing a conversation through a town forum to reaffirm its values in the aftermath of the incident, and said the ADL can be a resource for doing so.

The graffiti comes on the heels of an incident in Brewster on Jan. 24, when a resident called police to report having observed what appeared to be a swastika drawn in the snow that was on the ice of Elbow Pond. After taking a photograph of what they observed, the party reported that they went onto the ice and destroyed the image. Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call them.

“The Brewster Police Department takes any incidents of hate seriously, especially those directed at a person or group based on their race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity,” Brewster Police Chief Heath Eldredge wrote in a news release.

Hate crimes are relatively rare on the Lower Cape but are not unheard of; in 2022, around 20 flyers were distributed in a Chatham neighborhood, spreading an antisemitic message and imagery reminiscent of Nazi Germany. In 2006, the Harwich community came together to denounce bias and bigotry after someone painted a swastika on a roadway sign in Harwich Center.