Police are investigating the defacing of a Steve Silverman campaign sign with a swastika sometime during the three-day weekend as a hate crime.
Someone called the campaign Monday to tell workers that the 4-by-8-foot sign, located at 1409 Spencerville Road, just east of New Hampshire Avenue, had been vandalized, spokeswoman Judy Jablow said.
Silverman, a Democratic Montgomery County councilman and candidate for county executive, is Jewish and has several Jewish campaign volunteers. The candidate was shocked, Jablow said.
“There is no place in our county for this kind of hateful act of vandalism, particularly one that shows a symbol that denotes a very horrible and tragic period in our history,” Silverman said in a statement.
Police took the sign for evidence. Jablow said she was told by police that it would be dusted for evidence. Montgomery County police spokeswoman Lucille Baur would not confirm details about the investigation.
This was not the first time that someone had vandalized Silverman campaign signs, but it is the first time that police are seriously investigating. When two Silverman signs were vandalized with the phrases “4 punk” and “whore” about a week ago, police said such vandalism is common.
“It’s just a horrible thing,” Jablow said of the recent vandalism.
Jonathan Sack, the campaign spokesman for Ike Leggett, Silverman’s main primary opponent, has said the Leggett campaign has also experienced instances of vandalism to campaign materials. He did not return aphone call Tuesday.
