STAMFORD -- Police are seeking information about who left a swastika on a stop sign and wrote a derogatory term for blacks on the street at an intersection near the home of Gov.-elect Dan Malloy.
It's unclear when the offensive graffiti was left at Van Rensselaer and Fairview avenues. A former resident reported it to police around 1 p.m. Tuesday after driving in the neighborhood with his wife.
The swastika was left on the back of a stop sign in bright orange paint; the racial slur was left on nearby asphalt. The swastika takes up a small corner of the stop sign. The derogatory term was a few feet long.
Stamford Police Chief Robert Nivakoff said the Special Victims Unit is investigating the graffiti.
Patrol Lt. Gene Dohman said police categorized the incident as a hate crime and will refer it to the city's Public Works departments so the graffiti can be cleaned up.
"I found it offensive so I called it into police," Joe Kaliko said. "I was just shocked."
Kaliko now lives in Bell Haven in Greenwich, but resided in Stamford for 22 years before moving. He is the president of the Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol.
"They would get rid of that as quick as possible," Dohman said. "The whole idea of it is to draw attention."
No other incidents were reported, Dohman said.
Judy Davis, a 69-year-old Van Rensselaer Avenue resident, didn't notice the graffiti, but said she was outraged when she heard someone had left the offensive markings in her neighborhood.
"It's a mixed neighborhood as far as religions are concerned," Davis said Tuesday evening. "Having grown up during World War II makes it more offensive.
"Life is too short to go around demeaning people."
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Thursday, November 11th 2010 at 6:08PM
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