Anti-gay graffiti spray-painted at a ransacked and damaged Van Nuys home prompted a hate crime investigation from Los Angeles police Tuesday night.
The crime was reported at around 6:10 p.m. in the 7400 block of Vista Del Monte Avenue, said Sgt. Steve Gottschalk of the Los Angeles Police Department Van Nuys station.
There was "extensive damage" throughout the home, Gottschalk said. Police told the Los Angeles Times that someone kicked in the walls and destroyed water pipes. Graffiti with anti-gay messages was sprayed throughout the house.
"The whole interior was trashed. Everything glass was broken. There was spray paint on the walls inside," neighbor Henry Klein told NBC4.
Neighbors say news of the nature of the break in is disturbing.
"If it happened here, it can happen anywhere else," neighbor David Tobar said.
The victims were not home at the time.
