Police are investigating a vandalism at the office of a local parish as a hate crime, after an unknown suspect spray-painted a statue and a wall.
On Friday, September 30, 2022, at about 4:10 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a report of a vandalism at the St. Thomas Aquinas Pastoral Center at 3290 Middlefield Road. The facility houses the administrative offices for the three Roman Catholic churches in the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Palo Alto.
The investigation revealed that at some point between September 18 and September 24, an unknown suspect had used pink spray paint to vandalize the garden area of the office. The suspect wrote a phrase of white racial superiority on a wall and spray-painted a statue in the garden. By the time police were notified of what occurred by a parishioner, the damage had already been repaired.
To view details on other hate crime vandalisms reported in Palo Alto, visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/PAPDnews and search by keyword “hate.” At this time, there is no known connection between this case and others in the past.
Officers will thoroughly investigate any reported hate crimes in Palo Alto. You are welcome to read a blog post from the City entitled “Steps the Community Can Take to Help Stop Hate Crimes.” The City of Palo Alto strongly denounces hate crimes of all kinds and encourages members of our community to promptly report these incidents by calling our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413, or 9-1-1 if it is an emergency.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
