Ugly vandalism & unlikely stolen items

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA  November 9, 2009 (WPVI) -- It would be wonderful to think that this kind of thing doesn't happen anymore, but of course it does, and in this case, the scene of the utterly despicable crime was along the 1100 block of Hellerman Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia.

"I was devastated. I cried the whole first day and prayed a lot."

The words and symbols are disturbing and hurtful, a swastika, KKK, and even the n-word.

Saniyya Ferguson and Dominique Winn walked into their new apartment early Saturday morning to find this: their brand new couch and walls painted, a broken door, and of course the racial indignities.

"Honestly I was scared. I figured I don't have any money to buy anything else. My apartment was trashed," said Ferguson.

"I never expected to be in this neighborhood for something to happen like this. It's real quiet here. We never see neighbors here. The first time we saw neighbors was after the incident. I wouldn't expect it," said Winn.

The young couple just moved into the apartment 3 weeks ago. They decked it out with new furniture and flat screens. But the TVs are gone, stolen. And the furniture left behind, ruined.

"It's stressful, really stressful because me and my boyfriend don't have jobs. We're unemployed right now and can't afford to buy new things again."

Whoever is responsible for this crime took some odd items. Saniyya and Dominique say they took open bottles of lotion, their new comforter and pillows and all of Dominique's clothes.

"They took the food out of my freezer, all of it. They took trash bags. They took my pet snake."

So far, police have not made an arrest. They are investigating the vandalism as a possible hate crime, but the victims are not sure bigotry fueled it. The swastikas are backwards and the neighborhood is racially diverse.

"It's hard to believe that's what happened here. Because I think if someone hates you they don't take your food. They took her food out of her freezer."

You can get the latest crime statistics from the Philadelphia Police by CLICKING HERE for the force's crime data mapping site.

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