A building belonging to a Chattanooga nonprofit was vandalized with Nazi symbols and other racist words and images between Thursday and Friday morning, the staff said.
Volunteers at the Midtown Community Center, off Brainerd Road, arrived Friday to find three swastikas spray painted in rooms on the building's first floor and another painted on the exterior.
The vandal also painted the N-word on an interior wall. A marquee sign outside the old schoolhouse building that reads "Welcome to Midtown Community Center" was painted to say "Welcome to hell."
A volunteer told a reporter people at the center were shocked and didn't know what to think. She declined to give her name.
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The organization hosted a luncheon for Mayor Tim Kelly's Community Action Committee on Thursday in its building on Tuxedo Avenue. That was the last time volunteers said they were in the building before returning and seeing the vandalism Friday.
"We finally got a chance to host an event in our dining hall with the coolest people in town, the Mayor's Community Action Committee," Executive Director Jay Mace said in an emailed statement. "These are wonderful people who care about Chattanooga and are meeting together to brainstorm on how to help Chattanoogans both young and old through these challenging times."
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Volunteers also found a water hose connected to the building had been turned on and was pouring into an outside drain, likely all night. They could hear the sound of water from the gymnasium building next to the schoolhouse, but could not immediately find the source, they said. That may cost the center hundreds of dollars on its water bill, Mace said.
The building is equipped with a security system, volunteers said, but it did not send an alert that the building was broken into. It's unclear whether the system was tampered with or how the vandal got inside. Chattanooga Assistant Chief Glenn Scruggs said that police will look at cameras on homes and businesses in the areas as part of their investigation.
Surveillance cameras inside the building were not active, they said, and several had been knocked down or spray painted as part of the vandalism. Several lightbulbs were also smashed on the floor.
Chattanooga police documented the damage Friday morning, volunteers said. Officers determined the vandalism was likely an isolated incident, not connected to any known groups, Scruggs said by phone.
Police added the property to a watchlist that lets officers know to keep an eye on it, Scruggs said, along with synagogues in the area due to the antisemitic symbols.
Mace asked anyone with information to contact the department, which can be reached on its non-emergency line at 423-698-2525.
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The nonprofit plans to use the building as a center for youth and adult education and financial and career development, Mace said. It is also planned as an event venue, athletic center and job training facility.
The building, built in 1930, is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was constructed as Brainerd Junior High School, which it housed for 75 years before becoming 21st Century Academy until 2009.
Volunteers said the person who broke into the building also apparently rummaged through the front office, taking a stack of photos showing the building in the 1930s that the organization planned to use for a monthly magazine.
The building's first story has been undergoing renovations, with more planned soon for the top two floors.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.