Home › News › Camarillo
Vandals cover neighborhood with swastikas
Police say at least 20 homes were defaced
Download this story as a podcast!
Eric Parsons / Star staff This home on West Green Vale Drive in Camarillo is one of at least 20 properties that were spray-painted with swastikas Thursday night in a vandalism spree throughout the neighborhood.
STORY TOOLS 
More from CamarilloCarole Frick learned vandals had been through her Camarillo neighborhood when her niece came home around 1:30 a.m. Friday.
When Frick walked outside her Green Vale Drive home, she saw green swastikas spray-painted across her mailbox.
She later discovered vandals had also sprayed a black swastika across her redwood fence.
Despite all the damage, Frick considers herself fortunate when compared to some of her neighbors.
"They weren't so lucky," said Frick, pointing to a neighbor's garage door. Vandals painted a huge swastika across the door, along with profanity and a racist slur.
Vandals sprayed graffiti across at least 20 properties, said Camarillo police, including cars and pickups, homes, utility boxes, even the clubhouse at a nearby park.
"Much of it was swastikas," said detective Steve Arthur.
Investigators suspect vandals went through the west Camarillo neighborhood sometime between 10 p.m. Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday. They believe the vandals are juveniles, "judging by the style of the graffiti and the type of writing," Arthur said.
Frick doesn't know what she'll do with her mailbox.
"I may repaint it or just get a new one," she said.
Frick is especially upset about the swastikas. She wonders whether the vandals fully understand what an odious symbol it is and how much hate and suffering was inflicted by those who marched under its banner.
"If they fully realized what a hateful image this is, they might not do this," she said.
As to appropriate punishment, Frick said the vandals should be forced to be educated on the evils of the swastika and the needless damage caused by graffiti.
"They should also be required to do community service and graffiti removal," she said.
Police would like to talk to any additional victims or anyone who may have witnessed the vandalism. They can contact police at 388-5100.
Many of Frick's neighbors, meanwhile, are working on starting a Neighborhood Watch program, said Mike Sneddon, president of the Las Posas Highlands Homeowners' Association.
"There's a lot of shock, disbelief and disappointment about what happened," Sneddon said.
Posted by imbetnonit on August 11, 2007 at 3:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And maybe their parents should do some community service and graffiti removal too, if it turns out they are juveniles.
Posted by kbaker4us on August 11, 2007 at 4:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How quickly we forget the past and what the swastika means to so many people. Not to mention what it means to deface the property of other people. Where are the parents? Where are the values that we all need to adhere to to live in a civilized society? I don't think all is lost yet, but I do think that we are sinking into an abyss that is unrecoverable.
Posted by laurarmc on August 11, 2007 at 7:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The vandals haven't 'forgotton' anything. They know what the swastika is, they know what it means to the rest of us. They've been seduced by neo-naziism.
This is a horrible thing: and we mustn't pretend that the neo-nazi movement doesn't have a home in Ventura County. It absolutely does, and awareness is the first thing needed to fight it.
Posted by clementine on August 11, 2007 at 8:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Remember the mentality of these so-called juveniles. Too many drugs & alcohol kill brain cells. They should be sent to the Israeli army - the Israelis will teach them how to behave.
Posted by AnnaWhaat on August 11, 2007 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
FIRST I never read of arrest? How are all of you so sure that it was jueveniles? It is very possible that they could have been of age. We dont know that yet. BUT if proven then yes I believe they should definately pay !!!!! And go to the hall and be on probation.
This is such a terrible thing to do to someone else's property..........
Posted by surfmedic91 on August 11, 2007 at 12:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Most likely juveniles with too much time on their hands and looking for a place to belong without really knowing what they are doing.
Clementine, what a good idea to take the problems of the US and put them on the Israeli Army.
Posted by stave1 on August 11, 2007 at 1:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wouldn't it be rich, if we taught our children the truth about symbols? This particular symbol pre-dates christianity. It is a "well being" symbol used in Ireland, India,and many Asian cultures. One of the places it is from is sanskrit 'svastika' meaning "well being" or "to wish one well." The symbol has been tainted by the Nazi regime. So someone is wishing them well instead of the opposite, but it is important to teach everyone not to deface any other persons property. That is never acceptable. Teach Peace.
Posted by potatoebay on August 11, 2007 at 5:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Clementine, your idea is brilliant !!!
Posted by whhyme69 on August 11, 2007 at 9:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
it seems to me that stave1 is right. yet another symbol that has been tainted but i disagree with the israil army comment. dont we view the war between the palistinians and the israilis as unnessecary. two groups of people fighting each other over religion? isnt that what we are trying to teach our children is wrong?? as usual it starts at home and unfortunatly as with many of us that grew up in unstable homes this is what we turned to. education is the key
Posted by Boombarah on August 13, 2007 at 2:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is yet another reason why we should not take the discipline out of the home. The parents and kids should be held accountable for these actions and yes this does sound like the work of bored kids. In regards to the symbol, we should never make lite of something that we know in our generation to stand for hate.
Posted by Melly on August 13, 2007 at 8:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What a load of crap..."community service". If and When these stupid things and yes I called them things not people are cought they need the hardest punishment available. I for one am tired of hearing people get away with crime..kids or otherwise. We need to do something drastic to stop this stupid crap from happening even if we have to kick them and their families out. We don't live in South Central people. We need to do something harsh before we have to have bars on our windows and we have the title of "Gheto".
Posted by surfmedic91 on August 13, 2007 at 11:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This has been happening in VTA county for decades. Half of the skinheads I went to highschool with are no longer white supremists because they grew up and realized their true beliefs. Watch American History X. rcamacho can relate.
Uhh huh huh huh.. you guys said "tainted".
Posted by My2Cents on August 14, 2007 at 11:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like graffiti gang members to me...
Posted by AnnaWhaat on August 16, 2007 at 4:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
stave1 , I agree ! Alot of the younger age kids and some adults do NOT even realize the meaning of what they are drawing.
pxh.18 , I agree!
People get DUI's and have to sit through a Gorey movie about accidents. Why not make people caught doing this watch the Horror movies of the Halocaust?
Posted by atcristo on August 17, 2007 at 9:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I've lived in this community for 19 years and this isn't the first time that racial slurs are used, nor swastikas. I'm sure the indivials that commited these horrific acts knew exactly what they were doing and should be punished to the full extent of the law. I believe they will be caught because they are probably stupid enough to brag about it. We as parents, sad to say, need to alert our children about these local monsters.
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.