Two unidentified people allegedly scrawled anti-Islamic language across political campaign signs on Staten Island on Sept. 24, then took off running, and now the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force wants the public's help tracking them down. Police say the vandalism happened at about 1 p.m. that Thursday within the confines of the 122nd Precinct, and investigators are treating the case as a hate crime involving criminal mischief.
According to silive.com, the two individuals defaced the signs with anti-Islamic language before fleeing the scene on foot. Police have since released media depicting the pair in hopes someone recognizes them. The civil rights group CAIR also condemned the vandalism, describing the same allegation that two unidentified individuals defaced the signs with anti-Islamic language.
The pair allegedly graffitied anti-Islamic language on political campaign signs before fleeing on foot. Tipsters can submit anonymous information through the Crime Stoppers program. They can call the English hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or the Spanish line at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), or submit information online at the Crime Stoppers website or via X at @NYPDTips.
A Borough Seeing More Reported Hate Crimes
The sign vandalism lands amid a documented climb in reported hate crimes across Staten Island this year. Through Oct. 11, hate crimes on the borough were up 64% for the year, with 23 incidents reported compared with 14 during the same period in 2025, the same outlet reported. Within the 122nd Precinct specifically, reported hate crimes rose 125%, climbing from four last year to nine this year through mid-October, per the same account.
Earlier in the year, the numbers told a similar story: through Aug. 30, Staten Island had logged 17 reported hate-crime incidents, nearly 42% more than the 12 reported over the same stretch in 2025. The Hate Crime Task Force was also investigating a separate June 15 incident near Piave Avenue and Diaz Street in South Beach, in which an 18-year-old woman received threatening and anti-Muslim text messages from an unknown individual, according to the outlet's earlier report.
National Numbers and a Separate Long Island Case
The Staten Island vandalism also comes as anti-Muslim bias complaints have reached new highs nationally. CAIR says its latest civil rights report documented 8,683 anti-Muslim bias complaints in 2025, the highest number the organization has recorded since it began publishing civil rights reports in 1996.
A separate case elsewhere in the region has drawn similar scrutiny. In Shirley, a banner in front of the construction site for the Islamic Center of Mastic-Shirley on William Floyd Parkway was defaced sometime between a Friday night and Saturday, according to CBS News. Officials in that case described vandalizing a construction site of a religious institution as a hate crime, and police canvassed the area for surveillance video while offering a cash reward for information leading to an arrest.
No arrests have been announced in the Staten Island sign vandalism, and the identities of the two people sought remain unknown. The NYPD is continuing to ask anyone with information to come forward as the Hate Crime Task Force investigation continues.
