Fire Destroys Kosher Deli; Swastikas Found : Crime: Arson is suspected but officials are not sure if it is a hate crime. There is no sign of forced entry.

Swastikas were painted on a kosher meat shop in Van Nuys before it burst into flames with a neighborhood-jolting roar Monday, apparently set afire by an arsonist, authorities said. But police said it was unclear whether bigotry was the motive.

“We’re not sure if it’s a hate crime or not,” said Los Angeles Police Detective John Bagnall. “We’re tiptoeing on this one.”

Police Lt. Harvie Eubank said arson investigators indicated that there was no sign of forced entry and that if the fire was set, the arsonist apparently got in with a key. Eubank said the fire appeared to be arson because a strong smell of gasoline lingered hours after the blaze. Arson investigators for the city Fire Department did not return phone calls.

A spokeswoman for the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, the Jewish watchdog group that often condemns hate crimes, was also cautious, despite the fact that the blaze involved no other business on the block and broke out on Hitler’s birthday, as well as during the weeklong Jewish Passover holiday.

“We cannot say with certainty it is a hate crime and are waiting for the results of the police investigation,” said Mary Krasn, the league’s assistant director for the Los Angeles area.

The blaze at Leon’s Kosher Meat & Poultry shop, at 13650 Burbank Blvd., caused about $55,000 in damage, said Bob Collis, a Fire Department spokesman. The fire, reported shortly after 1 a.m., was extinguished in about 20 minutes, Collis said.

Investigators found two swastikas painted on doors of meat lockers inside the market, Bagnall and others said.

Harvey Schechter, a former Anti-Defamation League director who lives nearby, suggested that whoever painted the swastikas was ignorant of Nazi symbols because they were incorrectly drawn. “It suggests to me it was some young people who were not too knowledgeable other than that they had a hatred for Jews,” Schechter said.

Several witnesses said a loud explosion preceded the flames and sounded like a car crash because of the shattering glass.

Police declined to identify the meat market’s operator or the owner of the building. Money said the meat market’s operator had taken over about a year and a half ago from a butcher who had run the shop for many years.