Moscows NSA hit with Nazi-oriented graffiti
On their first day of university, New Saint Andrews College students walked through a doorway with the words Hitler Youth barely visible.
Theyd been written in chalk sometime late last night or early today.
The coincidence and timing is rather curious, said Roy Atwood, dean and president of NSA.
Fall classes started at 8 a.m. today for NSA. With about 150 students attending the college, many pass through the west door entrance where the incident occurred. Atwood said the markings still are visible, but are now less visible than before it was washed.
Presently, there is no crime, said Assistant Chief David Duke of the Moscow Police Department. The closest I could think of would be malicious harassment.
Duke explained property damage needs to occur for the markings to be considered vandalism. Because the markings were in chalk, it is not considered damaging. Additionally, the markings technically fall on city property as part of the city park, Friendship Square.
At about 5:50 a.m. today, New Saint Andrews academic dean, Chris Schlect, found the marking. Schlect said that after noticing them he continued to his 6 a.m. meeting with two other faculty members. After his meeting finished, Schlect alerted Atwood of the incident. Meanwhile a janitor already had notified police and poured water over the message in an attempt to erase it.
Atwood was the last person to leave an NSA event held last night in Friendship Square, about 10 p.m. He estimated 350 people attended the event celebrating the beginning of the school year.
Atwood said hes not surprised to see what he considers acts of vandalism. While he admits there is a possibility some are random, he said he believes, given the frequency of incidents over the past two years, that its highly likely these are intentional and directed. Hitler youth doesnt randomly show up on your doorstep, he said.
Atwood speculates the incident stemmed from an opinion piece that ran in a regional newspaper last week. It carried a headline that included the phrase neo-nazi Christians in reference to NSA.
People who say NSA isnt being targeted is either lying or fooling themselves, Atwood said.
Officials at NSA described a similar incident that happened two years ago. On a Friday night before Moscows Saturday farmers market, homemade stickers were pasted on their building at 405 S. Main St. Atwood estimated that somewhere between 50 and 100 brightly colored stickers were placed on their building. The stickers were similar to printer mailing labels and carried words like racist and fascist.
Duke said he was aware of incidents constituting vandalism happening at NSA, including Christmas lights that were torn down.
In this case, standing alone, Duke said the two words themselves dont constitute malicious harassment. However, he said the markings in conjunction with the newspaper item provided the possibility of showing an intended target. Duke said he still needs a legal interpretation of the words.
This is in a gray area, Duke said. You have to take the elements themselves what the definition of malicious harassment is and not the personal opinions of how people view what certain words mean.
Kate Baldwin can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at .
