AUBURN – Police are searching for the vandals who spray-painted swastikas and hateful messages on the walls and steps of an Auburn synagogue.

The graffiti was discovered about three weeks ago by members of Congregation Beth Abraham.

Swastikas of various sizes were painted in blue at the entrance of the synagogue and on the steps at the side of the building. The letters “KKK” appeared next to them, painted in red.

On a wall next to the entrance, the vandals left a more personal message: “Sloppy was here drinking beer.”

Police do not know whether the graffiti was the work of rowdy kids or members of a hate group, but they have forwarded a report of the incident to the Attorney General’s Office to be prosecuted as a hate crime if and when arrests are made.

Detectives took photographs of the damage and told the members of the synagogue that they could remove it at any time.

The graffiti was still there Monday. But, according to one member, the synagogue is in the process of cleaning it up.

Located at the corner of Main Street and Laurel Avenue in New Auburn, Beth Abraham is one of two synagogues in the tri-county region. It currently does not have a rabbi or religious leader.

Member Janice Leavitt said the synagogue’s Board of Directors has asked members not to talk about the vandalism in public. The board believes that any publicity will simply encourage others to commit similar acts, she said.

“Any publicity is against the interest of the entire Jewish community,” said Leavitt, who is married to Arnold Leavitt, president of the board.

Members of the area’s other synagogue don’t see it the same way.

Cantor Hillel Katzir, the leader of Temple Shalom, believes it is important for the community to know what happened so people of all faiths can join together to educate local youth about diversity.

“I don’t really believe that this was done by Nazis. I don’t believe that it was done by the Ku Klux Klan,” Katzir said. “I suspect it was neighborhood teenagers with too much time on their hands.”

Still, Katzir said, it is a serious act that warrants action.

“Education is needed,” he continued. “This was a violation of not only the Jewish community but of the entire community.”

Katzir referred to an incident in November 1998 when people throughout the community gathered to help members of Temple Shalom wash the synagogue’s sign after vandals spray-painted swastikas on it.

“It was a show of solidarity,” he said.

Temple Shalom was vandalized again in November 2000 when someone ripped a menorah from the side of the building.

Two years after that, in November 2002, five Lewiston juveniles were charged with spray-painting swastikas and other graffiti in several spots nears the Riverwalk in Auburn.

[email protected]