Swastika graffiti found in private Hilton Head community, police say
Residents in a private Hilton Head Island neighborhood found a swastika painted on the roadway late last month, according to Beaufort County police.
The graffiti had already been painted over when deputies responded to the scene in Spanish Wells the morning of May 26, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office incident report. Police noted there were “multiple areas” that appeared to have been covered with paint in the area of Widewater Road, where the Nazi symbol was reportedly found.
A property manager for Spanish Wells told deputies she was unsure when the swastika was painted but assumed it happened either May 24 or 25 based off emails she received from residents, the report says. She did not want to press charges for the graffiti, according to the report, but said she sent out a mass email to see if neighbors had caught the vandal on camera.
As of Wednesday, Beaufort County deputies had not identified a suspect and did not know exactly when the swastika was painted, according to sheriff’s office spokesperson Lt. Daniel Allen. He added that police were unsure whether additional hate symbols had been drawn in the area of Widewater Lane before being painted over.
The vandalism case was closed May 26 after the Spanish Wells property manager told police she only wanted the incident documented, the police report says.
Representatives for GW Services, a Hilton Head-based property management company that manages Spanish Wells and dozens of other private neighborhoods in the area, did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
Located in the historic Gullah neighborhood of the same name, Spanish Wells is a non-gated private community overlooking the Cailbogue Sound. The community is governed by a property owners association and features a members-only sports and lifestyle club.
Homes in the area of Widewater Lane — a secluded roadway shaded by live oak trees where the swastika was discovered — are regularly valued around $2 million or higher.
History of hate symbols in Beaufort County
This isn’t the first time swastikas and other hate symbols have appeared in the Hilton Head area.
In 2021, three May River High School students were charged with spray painting swastikas and several racial slurs on a hotel construction site in Hardeeville. The messages included two uses of the N-word, “white power” and “the South will rise again,” as well as profanities aimed at LGBTQ+, Spanish-speaking and Jewish individuals, according to previous reporting.
The suspects were not publicly identified because they were minors at the time of the crime, police previously said.
A year later, officials at the Beaufort-area Battery Creek High School reported finding swastika graffiti in a boy’s bathroom alongside threats directed at Jewish and Black people and a message threatening a school shooting.
Advocacy groups say swastikas and other hate symbols are increasingly appearing in public view nationwide, often spray painted on sidewalks or the sides of buildings. The resurgence of Nazi iconography has been described as a sign of rising antisemitism in the United States.
Officials in New York City have reported a surge of such hate symbols beginning early this year, with dozens of swastikas found in parks and playgrounds in largely Jewish areas. A city council member described the vandalism as “yet another hateful incident meant to intimidate Jewish New Yorkers and divide our city,” according to The Times of Israel.
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 12:54 PM.
