A student found two swastikas in a bathroom at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School on Thursday. An investigation into who drew the symbols is underway, according to the Washington Post.
Shelton Mooney, acting principal of the school, informed parents of the discovery by email on Friday morning. The Post said that Mooney noted that photos of the symbols had been shared on social media. The graffiti has since been removed.
“A part of our vision at B-CC is to create a sense of belonging for every student in the building and drawings like those found yesterday work to prevent us from realizing this vision,” Mooney said in his email to the parents.
The incident is the latest anti-Semitic incidents in the Washington area in the last month. More than a week ago an anti-Semitic Snapchat video surfaced at George Washington University, and in early October anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered scrawled on the back wall of Washington Hebrew Congregation.
The incident at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School was also the latest incident of swastika graffiti at Montgomery County schools this year. Anti-Semitic incidents, in general, have decreased according to the FBI; though anti-Semitic incidents involving murder have been on the rise according to the FBI.
The 2018 Hate Crimes report, which was released by the FBI earlier this week, said that Jews were the target of 57.8 percent of all religious bias crimes last year. The next most targeted group were Muslims at 14.5 percent.
Of all of the religious bias crimes, most took place at private residences or houses of worship, but 11.6 percent of all religious bias crimes took place at a school. Most of the religious bias crimes (71 percent) were acts of vandalism or destruction of property.
Twitter: @SamScoopCooper
