Bellevue police investigating swastika graffiti in Downtown Park

The Bellevue Police Department is investigating a possible hate crime involving a swastika spray-painted in Downtown Park on Nov. 11.

Officers were notified of the graffiti by a citizen on Twitter Friday afternoon. A black swastika had been spray-painted on a wall in the park with a red circle and slash on top of it. The graffiti was painted a short distance away from the display of flags that had been set up for Veteran’s Day.

The graffiti was cleaned up by parks staff within three hours of the initial report, according to police. There are no suspects at this time, and the nature and intended message of the graffiti is unclear, they added.

“It is unknown if this was a bias crime or an anti-bias crime, as the swastika actually had a red cross painted over it, so we don’t know if it was one individual or multiple suspects that painted the image,” said police spokesperson Seth Tyler.