El Dorado, AR – The El Dorado Police Department is investigating a pair of recent incidents in which property was defaced with antisemitic graffiti.
Vandalism was reported earlier this week at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Champagnolle Road and is the second such incident to occur in the city within the past two months.
In January, antisemitic graffiti was reported in Mellor Park, which is several blocks north of St. Mary’s.
Offensive messages aimed at Jewish people had been spray-painted and marked on picnic tables, columns and the concrete padding in the pavilion on the northeast side of the park.
City crews scrubbed the concrete, matched paint to cover the columns and repainted the picnic tables Wildcat Purple.
While following up on the work in early February, Karen Hicks, a member of the El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds Commission, discovered more antisemitic words, some misspelled, atop a slide in the park.
Hicks and Michael Lewis, city parks and green space manager, said the graffiti on the slide did not appear to be fresh.
One of the derogatory messages referenced rapper-producer-fashion designer Kanye West and indicated that the suspect(s) agreed with comments West made in late 2022 that were widely condemned as antisemitic.
