Vandals hit nearly a dozen properties in Freemason neighborhood

NORFOLK

Freemason residents awoke Tuesday to discover obscene and crude vandalism marring roughly a dozen properties.

"It's disgusting," said Wendy Nuzzo, restaurant manager of Omar's Carriage House at 313 W. Bute St., where vandals painted the side of the building and scrambled onto a low roof to paint the second floor in the rear. "Everybody's angry and upset about it."

Hardest hit was a building at 308 W. Freemason St. owned by a foundation linked to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Vandals painted racial epithets, vulgar words and crude drawings around the rear and side of the building. A man was painting over the words and images by early afternoon.

Vandals also hit doors, windows and a satellite dish around the neighborhood; several white garage doors off Freemason Mews bore black and blue paint.

Omar Boukhriss, who owns Omar's, said he wants the neighborhood to appear safe and appealing. "This is not the message we want to be sending," he said.

Officer Chris Amos, a police spokesman, said the vandalism was not believed to be gang-related. Police were investigating but had not made any arrests, he said.

The city has been gearing up to fight graffiti with a program called Tag-Out, which will enlist residents to aid in spotting and eradicating graffiti. The program will start soon in an area bounded by 38th Street, Tidewater Drive, Hampton Boulevard and Olney Road.

For more information, visit www.norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/services/tagout.asp.

Anyone with information in this case can call Norfolk Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

Matthew Roy, (757) 446-2540, matthew.roy@pilotonline.com