Swastikas daubed on synagogue in US city of Reno

A vandal has again struck at a synagogue, in Reno, in the US state of Nevada, painting hate graffiti including swastikas on its walls. Volunteers from the synagogue removed the graffiti Sunday afternoon after police had collected evidence at the site. The synagogue was last vandalized in April. Rabbi Menashe Bovit told the local newspaper that he believed Saturday night's graffiti was likely from the same person. A more severe attack on the temple occurred New Year's Day 2001, when a Molotov cocktail thrown at the synagogue singed its wooden doors. That was the second firebombing in two years against the synagogue. Members of a skinhead group pleaded guilty to the first incident and were sentenced to prison. Bovit said the crimes have had the opposite effect of what was likely intended. He said his congregation developed a strong friendship with the congregation at St. John's Presbyterian Church after the first graffiti was found on Easter Sunday in April. Church members helped remove it, and the two groups have since included each other in some special events.