READING

More Racist Graffiti Found at Reading Memorial High School, Officials Condemn the Act

The school has encountered racial vandalism recently when two swastikas were found in a classroom in early October

School officials from Reading Memorial High School condemn the racist graffiti that has vandalized the campus this past week and are searching for the perpetrators.

A teacher reported to school administration on Wednesday that the vandalism was written on a bathroom wall and another staff member found similar graffiti on a stairwell Thursday morning.

Officials did not detail what the graffiti depicted. Reading police are investigating the racial graffiti and the school, town manager and police have condemned the act.

The high school had recently encountered racist graffiti after two swastikas were found in a classroom on campus in early October. The racial vandalism was drawn in pencil on a science lab bench.

"Unfortunately, we continue to have these graffiti-related incidents in our schools and in our community," Principal Kathleen Boynton wrote in a letter sent to school families and staff. "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."

Reading Memorial High School and the town will host a candlelit vigil on Saturday "in support of human rights, in celebration of diversity and in opposition to hate, racism and bigotry," the school announced. The vigil will be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The school will also hold a schoolwide town hall meeting on Nov. 6.

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