Antisemitic graffiti defaces burned LA synagogue site
A memorial mural at a California synagogue that survived January wildfires was vandalized with swastikas, prompting a hate crime investigation by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
Antisemitic graffiti defaces burned LA synagogue site
Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe
Staff Writer
JULY 25, 2026 AT 10:42 PM
The Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center announced Friday that vandals had defaced the mural with swastikas and anti-Jewish graffiti, according to Ross O’Keefe writing in New York Post. The artwork, located on the 1400 block of Altadena Drive in Pasadena, had been created as a community response to an earlier act of antisemitism following the Eaton Fire that destroyed the temple.
The synagogue condemned the attack in a social media statement, declaring that while they were saddened and outraged, they refuse to allow the vandalism to define their community. Temple officials confirmed they are working with law enforcement and security partners as the investigation proceeds and they determine how to restore the damaged artwork.
Images of the defaced mural show the colorful mosaic covered with black spray paint reading “Zionzim [sic] is not welcome” alongside at least three black swastikas. The artwork had originally been intended as a symbol of hope and healing for the entire Altadena community, not just the Jewish congregation.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has opened an investigation into what it characterized as a hate-motivated act of vandalism.
State Senator Sasha Renee Perez, whose district includes the area, issued a sharp condemnation of the attack. She described it as disturbing and particularly cruel to inflict fresh pain on a congregation that had already discovered antisemitic graffiti on the new mural created to foster community healing after a previous hate crime in January.
https://newsfire.gr/en/antisemitic-graffiti-defaces-burned-la-synagogue-site/
