Graffiti found Saturday morning on the Walt Whitman High School sign marked at least the fourth time since August that antisemitic vandalism has defaced a site in Montgomery County, according to officials.
Federal, state and local leaders and Jewish groups condemned the spate of incidents in the county – amid a national trend of growing antisemitic activity, even as the county has awarded safety grants to houses of worship and adopted a resolution to combat antisemitism.
The words “Jews Not Welcome” were found on the school sign on Whittier Avenue in Bethesda, according to a letter Principal Christopher Dodd sent Saturday to the Whitman community. Police Chief Marcus Jones said in a news release that officers were called about 8 a.m. Saturday for a report of the spray-painted vandalism.
The Jewish advocacy group that fights antisemitism, StopAntisemitism, tweeted out the photo adding the graffiti was reminiscent of Germany 1939.
“Jews not welcome” found spray painted onto a high school sign today.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 17, 2022
This isn’t Germany 1939
It’s Bethesda, Maryland 2022 pic.twitter.com/xjzvTclqb4
No one has been arrested, and an investigator is seeking images of any suspects. “Acts of hate and bigotry are on the rise across the country and in Montgomery County. Anti-Semitism and any forms of hate/bias are not welcome in our community,” he wrote. “As a community, we must work together to protect the diversity that our county offers, and we need to reject anti-Semitism and hatred of any kind.”