What’s broken
Two garages in the alley between the 3900 and 4000 blocks of Wesley and Clarence avenues were hit with graffiti last week. Both garages are marked with large red swastikas, the historically anti-Semitic symbol used by the Nazis and modern white supremacists. Each swastika was spray painted onto the white garage doors. At first glance, the image on the 4000 block of Clarence Avenue looks like a child’s scribble. But a block north, the image on the 3900 block of Wesley Avenue makes the tagger’s intent clear. 

STATUS
Stickney Fire Lt. Rich Krey said the problem was reported to police Aug. 2. Once police speak to the homeowner, the homeowner has 10 days to address the issue or face a fine. One of the homes is currently listed as vacant, and Krey said he will investigate the complaint and see if the village can paint over the image.

The history
Christine Dahmer, who lives nearby and passes the garages on her daily bike rides, said both tags went up early last week, about a day apart from each other. Dahmer said she called police and was told it was a homeowner’s responsibility to remove the graffiti. Krey has since said both the blight and police departments are investigating the complaints.What the neighbors say
Dahmer said she finds the graffiti disrespectful and believes the village should push the residents to clean it up if they don’t take care of it on their own. “I’m not Jewish, but I find it offensive that it hasn’t been taken care of,” Dahmer said. “If it were any other kind of racial slur, everybody would have been up in arms about it, to have it taken care of.”

Who’s looking into it? Krey said he would investigate the situation at the vacant home to see if the village needed to remove the image.

Is something happening in your neighborhood? We want tips from residents in Berwyn, Cicero and Stickney. Call us at (630) 379-7955 or e-mail us at dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com.