Swastikas were found spray painted on a tree located on the Escondido Falls trail in what may be an unprecedented act of racist graffiti in the Malibu area, according to Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) spokeswoman Dash Stolarz. The incident was reported on Aug. 16 by a hiker, though it’s unclear when the crime took place.
“This is very uncommon in our world,” Stolarz said. “I know there’s been that kind of thing [happening] around the country. In terms of our Santa Monica Mountains, I can’t even remember ever having this happen.”
She confirmed that the spray-painted swastikas had only been on one tree and that a crew was sent to cover it. The spray paint was removed with a pressure washer the next day. Stolarz reiterated this has been the only incident of its kind.
The swastika, originally a religious symbol commonly associated with religions based in Asia, was appropriated by Adolph Hitler to represent the Nazi regime during the Third Reich—it is a strong symbol of the horrors of the Holocaust. It is still recognized as a hate symbol in America today.
Malibu resident Lori Gray saw the swastikas on the trail. She sent photos of the tree to Joe Edmiston, executive director of the SMMC and executive officer of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA).
“Well, when I first saw the swastikas—especially following the incidents in Charlottesville—I was horrified,” Gray told The Malibu Times. “As a Jewish woman, it cut to my soul.”
Charlottesville became a sore topic for the nation following a march at the University of Virginia campus on Aug. 11 to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, where protesters carried torches and chanted slogans related to white supremacy. Anti-racist protestors showed up the next day when things escalated as a car drove into the crowd, killing a woman and injuring several others.
Edmiston was quick to respond to Gray, assuring her that the swastikas would be removed immediately.
Edmiston forwarded an email to Gray (later shared with The Malibu Times) that included photos showing the paint washed off by Aug. 24, with cleaning crew members spending a total of eight hours on the job.
Gray emphasized how frightening finding the symbol was.
“And the sad thing is, for the young people—do they know what this [the swastika] is?” Gray said.
A swastika was found inside a bathroom at Calabasas High School in May, according to Calabasas Patch. This incident was not the first of its kind; the high school has dealt with a few swastika-related incidents over the years.
Gray hopes that educating Malibu students on the swastika’s meaning and providing context will help prevent similar events in the future.
Several other Malibu residents were shocked and voiced their concerns on a community post on social media.
One commenter pointed out that the swastikas were not painted on correctly.
Another commenter, Jonathan Kaye, president of the Winding Way-Murphy Way Homeowners Association (HOA), was not surprised by the incident.
“I wasn’t surprised to find graffiti in the canyon because so many of the trees have been already been [sic] carved up and spray painted,” Kaye stated in an email to The Malibu Times. “But I was shocked that this racist symbol was left behind. The demographic of the hikers has changed over the years to a much tougher crowd … I’ve been yelled at and threatened just trying to get to my home. As president of the HOA, it’s a big effort just picking up trash left behind. Plus, I’m always painting over gang signs along our private road.”
In a similar vein, others faulted the SMMC and the MRCA with mismanagement of the trails, insisting that the public trails are not being properly monitored for crimes such as littering, vandalism and more.
Edmiston did not respond to requests for comment by the time The Malibu Times went to print.
Following the uptake in hate crimes, the Southern Poverty Law Center recently created a “Hate Map”—an interactive map documenting hate groups around the United States. Seventy-nine groups are listed for the state of California, with a majority located in the Southern California area.
The hate activity closest to Malibu includes The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi news group based in Santa Monica; Bare Naked Islam, an anti-Muslim group in Marina del Rey; and other hate groups in the Los Angeles area.
“It [the swastika] can never be totally removed, a deep mark of racism and anti-semitism on our community and our democracy. The tree and our neighborhood [are] forever marked with a stain of prejudice,” Kaye commented on social media.
Rabbi Judith HaLevy of the Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue condemned the actions.
“It is disturbing to see that these forces of evil that lurk everywhere can surface even in a loving and supportive community like Malibu. There is no room for bigotry of any kind and we must remain vigilant not to allow these forces to penetrate our community,” she said in a phone call with The Malibu Times.
It is unknown whether an investigation has occurred or whether the perpetrator behind the spray-painted swastika has been identified.
