New York Republican Rep. George Santos’ district office in Queens, New York, has been vandalized with gold paint.
“Scata,” “Lash” and “Meeppa” were written on his office’s window in graffiti, although it is unclear what the graffiti meant. The paint had been cleaned off the window by Friday afternoon.
The New York Police Department said officers responded to reports of vandalism Friday morning. There have not been any reports of arrests made, and it is unclear if police had a suspect description. Police said they believe at least one of the words was misspelled.
The graffiti was discovered by Santos’ staffers as they arrived to work that morning. The congressman released a statement condemning the vandalism of his office, which still has the name of his predecessor, retired Democrat Rep. Thomas Suozzi, on the building.
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“This act of cowardly behavior is beyond unacceptable and compromises the safety of my staff as well as my constituents,” the statement said. “My staff should never have to worry about entering the workplace, nor constituents who require federal assistance.”
Police said the vandalism occurred sometime after 5 p.m. on Thursday after the office was closed for the evening. Police are searching for surveillance video that may have caught the suspect in the act.
The embattled Santos has faced scrutiny from lawmakers after reports revealed he had fabricated much of his background during his 2022 campaign, in which he defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman.
He has been accused of lying about his work and education history, connections to an alleged Ponzi scheme, his mother’s death and that he had previously been married to a woman despite now being openly gay.
Santos has also purportedly used a fake animal charity in 2016 to scam a disabled veteran by raising money for their dog’s cancer treatment and then keeping the funds himself, although the congressman denies the allegation.
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The freshman representative has faced calls to resign from Republicans and Democrats in Congress and numerous New York State Republicans. He said last month that he would resign if the 142,000 people who voted for him asked him to.
Santos has also claimed he would recuse himself from his two committee assignments.