Arlington Heights police investigating swastika graffiti

Kristina Keller at first didn't quite believe her eyes when she walked out of her Arlington Heights condo building Saturday afternoon and discovered a swastika drawn on a pillar in the front entryway.

“I walked right past it and did a doubletake,” Keller said Monday. “I went back and when I realized what it was, I tried to get rid of it with my sleeve, but it wouldn't come out.”

The 6-inch by 6-inch hate symbol, crudely drawn in black ink, was especially jarring for Keller, who is Jewish and lives with a biracial partner.

“I was very rattled by it,” she said. “It definitely made us very uncomfortable.”

After posting a photo of the swastika on social media Saturday, Keller filed a report with Arlington Heights police Monday. Police confirmed they are investigating the vandalism on the 0-100 block of Palatine Road.

Mayor Tom Hayes issued a statement Monday condemning what he called an “act of hateful vandalism.”

“I will say in no uncertain terms again that hate has no home in Arlington Heights and that such criminal acts will not be tolerated,” Hayes said. “As such, I have directed our police chief to aggressively investigate and to assist in the prosecution of any offenders caught to the full extent of the law.

“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic resurgence, and perhaps the most trying time in most of our lifetimes, let us all reflect the caring and welcoming community that is the City of Good Neighbors and do all we can to put an end to these acts of hate.”

It is the latest of several hate-related incidents reported in the village this year.

In July, police arrested a 20-year-old Buffalo Grove man on hate crime and criminal damage charges alleging he was responsible for a rash of racist graffiti found in multiple locations in the community, including at Lake Arlington Park, the Davis Street pedestrian underpass and the Vail Street parking garage.

And in August, Hayes and others publicly condemned two instances of vandalism at an Arlington Heights church that had displayed a banner quoting a Bible verse followed by “Black Lives Matter.”

Noting the documented rise in hate crimes across the country in recent years, Keller said the community needs to speak out.

“It's up to us to put it out there that this is not OK, and we need to put people in positions of power that don't use hateful rhetoric,” she said.