NATICK, MASS. (WHDH) - Racist words and anti-Semitic symbols were found on the walls inside a Natick property on Friday.
Linda Chery Valentin and her husband are working to develop a building on Pleasant Street. They say vandals have struck in the past, but this time, the Valentins say the place was broken into and hateful messages were left behind.
“It just shook us a little bit, and it took away from me, I’m talking for myself, my sense of safety and security,” Linda said. “It represents ‘we don’t want you here, we don’t like you, you should just go.'”
They said they reported the crime to Natick police. Days later, someone else spotted similar slurs scribbled on two portable toilets outside a community center in town.
“It’s devastating to me,” Rabbi Raysh Weiss said. “In this most recent incident, the n-word was used in 2026. I feel like one part of me is like, stop being shocked by these incidents.”
The rabbis at Temple Israel in Natick said they are aware of both hate-related incidents. And that they come on the heels of others similiar vandalism in town.
“It’s unfortunate that these types of things keep happening, both anti-Jewish and racist,” Rabbi Ken Richmond said. “I think it’s the minority, like a few people who express hate in these ways, and the vast majority around – our neighbors, our fellow clergy people, all the officials in our town – have been incredibly supportive.”
Now Natick’s civil rights police officer is working with regional law enforcement to find the people responsible.
“If we just give statements and say ‘we don’t want this to happen, this has no place in our community’, we give those beautiful statements, and we don’t do anything about it, it will never stop,” Linda said. “So we need to work together to have a plan to make sure this doesn’t continue.”
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