2 sought for vandalizing West Philadelphia home with messages relating to Israel and Hamas war

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Police are searching for two suspects who are being accused of vandalizing a West Philadelphia home.

It happened around 2 a.m. on Saturday in the 500 block of South 45th Street.

Philadelphia police released surveillance footage on Tuesday showing the duo walking down the street. The pair painted messages relating to the war between Israel and Hamas on the side of a home before quickly leaving the area.

Neighbors who live in the area told Action News they noticed similar messages that were plastered across sidewalks, the street and at least one other property along the same block.

Graciela Galiamo said her daughter is a resident of one of the buildings that was tagged over the weekend with a message reading "Viva Palestine." She said she had no problem with people expressing how they feel about the conflict between Israel and Hamas, but she added people need to do it in a respectful way.

"They can have a cause," Galiamo said. "It could be right or wrong but there's no reason for damage to private property."

At a press conference on Tuesday, Philadelphia police said they were investigating whether the suspects caught on private security video were connected to other acts of vandalism in the area. Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said investigators were searching for additional video in the area.

"We're certainly looking at it as a biased incident," Vanore said.

Nearby neighbor Nate Topham told Action News that he thought the pro-Palestinian messages were fine as long as they were contained to public property. He said vandalizing private property was a step too far for him.

"I draw the line at private property," Topham said. "It's kind of unchill to put that kind of stuff on somebody's house."

Other neighbors said they weren't concerned about similar acts happening moving forward, but said it would make sense if their fellow neighbors were "annoyed if they see something that they have to take the time to clean up."

We reached out to the Anti-Defamation League, which said while it's seen an uptick in antisemitism, these particular incidents needed to be investigated more before it could determine whether or not these were acts targeting Jewish people.

If you have any information regarding the crime or the identities of the two suspects seen in the security video, police ask that you contact Southwest Detectives Division at 215-686-3183.