Home defaced with swastika, tires slashed

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint couple’s home was defaced with a swastika and tires on their vehicles were slashed late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

“We’ve got leads on who did this,” said Sandpoint Police Chief Mark Lockwood said.

The vandalism occurred at a home near the corner South Lincoln Avenue and Janelle Way. A left-facing swastika was painted on a garage door and a Pontiac Grand Am was also defaced. The perpetrators slashed the sedan’s tires and the tires of a boat trailer.

The home’s residents, who did not want to be identified, said the tires of a relative’s Cadillac and pickup truck were also slashed.

“We don’t have any idea who would do this,” one of the residents said as they cleaned up the paint markings.

The neon orange paint appeared to be a temporary pigment that could be cleaned off of a surface, but the damage to the vehicles’ tires was indelible.

The vandalism was discovered at around 10:30 a.m. on Friday.

One of the home’s occupants is African American, according to Lockwood, although he does not believe the vandalism is the handiwork of a neo-Nazi organization.