Ventura Temple Defaced; 3rd This Week

In the third attack on a Jewish temple this week, Temple Beth Torah in Ventura was defaced by a nocturnal vandal who spray-painted slurs linking Jews to the Antichrist.

Maintenance manager Roque Sanchez, who lives on the grounds, said he was making his rounds in his truck about 10 p.m. Wednesday when he scared off a man painting black letters on the temple school.

“When I put on my bright lights, there he was writing on the walls,” Sanchez said Thursday. The man scrawled “6 Points, 6 Sides and 6 Triangles,” referring to the Jewish star of David, before he fled, Sanchez said. The number 666 is associated with the Antichrist.

The markings were similar to those painted on two Thousand Oaks synagogues on the eve of the eight-day Hanukkah celebrations, law enforcement officials said.

Ventura Police Detective Jeff Killion, who investigates hate crimes directed against religious and ethnic minorities, said the attack on Temple Beth Torah may have been triggered by the Jewish holiday, which began Tuesday.

“It’s just the kind of thing that stirs up people’s hate,” Killion said.

Buildings at Temple Adat Elohim and Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks were spray-painted with Biblical citations from the New Testament.

Both synagogues were desecrated with the same phrase painted on Temple Beth Torah, the Jewish Star of David and the words “The Anti-Christ’s Symbol.” On Temple Etz Chaim, the vandal added the message, “Jews are Satan’s Chosen.”

In each case, the vandal chose a dimly lit area away from streets and parking lots.

Although the markings have been erased on the two Thousand Oaks synagogues, they have left an indelible impression on Jewish leaders, who condemned them as hate crimes.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Detective Scott Miller contacted the Ventura Police Department on Thursday for help in identifying the vandal.

“Very seldom do we get any suspect information at the scene,” he said. “We have to work on the leads we have.”

It is the third time Temple Beth Torah has been vandalized. In March, bullets pierced a sign at the temple. In July, a building was spray-painted with the letters “ZOG,” an anti-Semitic reference used by white supremacists, Sanchez said.