Teens arrested in Jewish school vandalism

Two teens were arrested in connection with anti-Semitic graffiti painted on a Jewish high school in Washington State.

The 17-year olds, from Mercer Island, Wash., were arrested Wednesday and placed in juvenile detention, according to reports. They were charged with malicious harassment, malicious mischief and second-degree burglary.

A third teen, 18, was expected to turn himself in.

Anti-Semitic epithets and swastikas were painted in orange, blue and gray paint on the exterior of Northwest Yeshiva High School on Mercer Island; the graffiti included swastikas and references to gas chambers. The attack occurred late on Sept. 16 and was discovered the following morning, on the eve of Yom Kippur.

The graffiti covered most of the building’s outer wall, including the second floor. Neighborhood residents helped the school to clean off the graffiti before Yom Kippur services were held in its sanctuary.

Police searched the arrested teens’ homes and found samples of graffiti on the walls and on pads of paper that matched the graffiti found on the school. One of the teens is now also a suspect in several other local graffiti incidents, The Seattle Times reported.