Synagogue vandalized with hate symbols

WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) - Symbols of hate were found spray-painted on a Warwick Synagogue Thursday, leaving members stunned and saddened.

"I just want to cry," said Paula Olivieri, a member of Temple Am David on Gardiner Street. "This is awful, simply awful."

The graffiti included a backwards swastika and a racial slur. Investigators believe the vandals struck sometime Wednesday night.

Olivieri says the symbols are especially hurtful because of the work done at the temple.

"I truly feel that if it were kids who did this, they didn't even understand what it meant, Olivieri said. "We work with survivors of the Holocaust. Some people were in the camps, and some lost everyone in their family."

Police said the vandalism may be investigated as a hate crime. Officers found a spray paint can nearby. Investigators are also reviewing footage from the temple's surveillance cameras.