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'It's Disgusting': Family In Irving Park Finds Swastika Painted On Garage

CHICAGO (CBS)-- A family on Chicago's northwest side woke up to a shocking sight: a swastika and the world "Nazi" painted on their garage.

The hateful vandalism in the Irving Park neighborhood is in white and paint splashed on the garbage cans.

This happened on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. The owner of the property is Jewish.

Jose Perez was walking to his father's house here in the 3200 block of north Kenneth and was stunned by what he saw in the alley.

"To do this to someone's property like that," Perez said. "It's disgusting to be honest. How are you going to have this go on."

A woman who lives in the house didn't want to go on camera, but told CBS 2 it likely happened between 6 p.m. Monday 6 a.m. Tuesday.

She said her son-in-law, who also lives in the house, is Jewish. But she's not convinced he was the target.

Still, she calls the vandalism "hateful."

Perez says he's seen such graffiti elsewhere.

"Like the other day I was on the expressway and I see one of the signs and said bunch of random slurs too," he said.

Police numbers show hate crimes, called "biased-related crimes" are on the rise in Chicago. The totals were 29 in 2017 and 43 in 2018.

Alison Pure-Slovin, Midwest Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center told CBS 2:

"Tonight at 6 p.m., Jews across Illinois will attend synagogue as we begin the holiest day of the year - Yom Kippur. This year, synagogues and temples around Chicago had to prepare for an active shooter situation. Our places of worship have armed guards. This is not how we should live in the United States of America."

She added this "sickens me to my core."

Chicago Police say they have no updates right now but Area North officers are investigating. A graffiti removal crew is on the way.

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