READING, MA (AP)--Swastika graffiti was found in a Reading Memorial High School classroom Friday, school officials announced.
The hateful images were reported to school leadership by a teacher after a student found two swastikas drawn in pencil on a science lab bench. The school documented the images and reported the incident to the Superintendent, Reading police and the Facilities Department.
In a letter to school families and staff, Reading Memorial High School Principal Kathleen Boynton said an investigation was ongoing, but it was unclear when exactly the images were drawn. "Unfortunately, we continue to have these graffiti related incidents in our schools and in our community," Boynton wrote in the letter. "The swastika symbolizes hate and anti-Semitism and there is no place for these types of hateful actions or behaviors in our schools or in the greater Reading community.
Boynton also described some of the efforts the school has taken recently to build an environment that values diversity, including a Holocaust survivor guest speaker last year and various school clubs and student leadership initiatives. Boynton wrote that students will be notified of the incident on Monday and asked for any information that might aid in the investigation.