Calif. synagogue tagged with anti-Semitic graffiti

Anti-Jewish graffiti that was sprayed on the wall of a Southern California synagogue. Police are treating it as a hate crime.

By Associated Press

Police are investigating anti-Jewish graffiti that was sprayed on the wall of a Southern California synagogue, days after a gunman killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh temple.

Employees arriving for work spotted the expletive-laden vandalism Wednesday morning at Beth Jacob Synagogue in Irvine.

Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

The president of the temple board, Allen Berezovsky, tells the Orange County Register that surveillance cameras showed a man in a hoodie and surgical mask jumping the synagogue security fence and spraying the message.

Berezovsky says the temple upgraded its security earlier this year after an Irvine man was arrested for hate crimes. Prosecutors say the man had a “kill list” of prominent Jewish community members. He also had papers mentioning the Irvine synagogue and local Christian churches.

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