Police said Friday they had arrested and charged a man for spraying swastikas on a synagogue in Rockville, Maryland, a town just north of Washington DC.
Montgomery County Police said they identified Andrew Lemond Costas, 28, after releasing surveillance video from the scene of the March 28 incident at Tikvat Israel Congregation and received tips from the public.
Costas had sprayed swastikas and “derogatory epithets” on the building, police said.
Police say Costas told his girlfriend that he was the Antichrist and planned to cause damage to 10 churches and three synagogues. The total, 13, has symbolic significance in Satanist circles and literature.
He was charged with “malicious destruction of property, defacing religious property, and damaging property of a group because of the group’s religious beliefs.”
Costas was released after posting a $5,000 bond, police said; Rockville has large Jewish and Israeli communities.