“I drive by this house every day several times, and all I ever would see is its beauty, and now it's defamation,” Mohammad Bazzi said.
"Divest from Israel" and "Free Palestine" were among the messages spray painted on the century-old Wilcox House in downtown Plymouth.
It happened early Thursday morning. Now, police, along with state and federal agencies, are investigating.
“We've had spray painting and vandalism in the past. This is the first time that I can remember that we've had it where it's been political in nature,” said Plymouth Police Chief Al Cox.
The Raymond James office at 505 Main Street was also targeted. The Wilcox House is home to First Financial Strategies, a Raymond James affiliate.
“This needs to end. It's hate. It's racial discrimination. Racial discrimination, now both on the Palestinian side but for the Israeli Jewish side. And it's hate on both ends,” Bazzi said.
“It looks like they're trying to spread a good message, but still, you shouldn't vandalize a building,” Evan Roberts said.
Like the Wilcox House, the Raymond James office was tagged with inverted triangles, a symbol commonly used in pro-Palestinian protests. Police say the suspects also threw balloons filled with red paint at the building.
The Senior Vice President of Investments at the office sits on the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents.
The homes and businesses of U of M officials have been targeted in the ongoing tensions over the Israel-Hamas war and the university's investment ties to Israel.
Ernest Hughes, president of First Financial Strategies at the Wilcox HJouse, believes his business caught a proverbial stray bullet.
“It appears to me they were trying to send a message to the regent there in that office, and instead of finding out what office he was in, they just hit both of us, and so I guess I was collateral damage,” Hughes said.
Raymond James provided a statement saying: "We are working with law enforcement to investigate and are taking additional steps to ensure our associates, advisors, and their clients are safe."
Nabih Ayad from the Arab American Civil Rights League condemned the acts of vandalism.
“Everyone can be sympathetic as to what's going on regardless of whether their family is being slaughtered overseas or what have you. I can understand where their anger comes from, but yet there's means, there's ways of doing that without vandalizing or committing or inciting violence or breaking the law,” Ayad said.
Investigators are reviewing footage from surveillance cameras near the two properties and are asking anyone with information or additional footage to come forward.
“Things that people think are nothing have blown huge cases wide open,” Chief Cox said.
