HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. -- Anti-Semitic graffiti was spotted earlier this week near a high school in Highlands Ranch, increasing the number of these type of incidents to six in the Front Range so far.
The graffiti was found Tuesday morning by a resident in the area during her morning run.
The walls on both sides of the tunnel that goes under Monarch Boulevard not far from Rocky Canyon High School had the words “BUILD THAT WALL” and “Hitler was right” with a swastika sprayed painted at the end of that sentence.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigated the crime, but closed the case as there was no way to identify a suspect.
These types of incidents are on the rise in Colorado, according to a recently released Anti-Defamation League audit.
The ADL reports there have been 15 anti-Semitic acts of vandalism against Jewish people just in the first quarter of 2017 alone.
The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Colorado also more than doubled from 2015 to 2016.
The latest incident Denver7 reported happened at a home in Aurora on June 2. There, a couple woke up to swastikas spray-pained on their home.
On January 3, State Rep. Jonathan Si found a Longmont park vandalized with swastikas.
Days later, people who live near Glenmere Park in Greeley were shocked to find two swastikas traced into the snow on the park’s frozen lake.
Then, on May 3, swastikas and other symbols of hate were found carved into cars near DU.
That same week, firefighters found swastikas carved into a freshly poured concrete sidewalk in Westminster.
The ADL’s annual Audit of Anti-Semitic incidents found 45 incidents in Colorado last year, compared to only 18 incidents in 2015.
