ENCINITAS, Calif. — Jeff and Carol Skiljan have lived in this Encinitas neighborhood for 36 years and say that almost every election cycle their democratic signs are stolen.
"I don't have one state government person up here. I have the school board [and] I have the city," said Carol Skiljan.
"We are appalled by this extremism," said Jeff Skilljan.
But this year, their signs were not stolen. Instead, they received some stenciling painted on each side of their driveway of a hammer and sickle reading "Cultural Marxist."
"We don't know exactly who they are but it is a right-wing, anti-Semitic group or theory that claims western Marxism is the basis for subverting western culture," said Jeff Skiljan.
Tammy Giles, a representative from San Diego's anti-defamation league, also weighed in on the possible meaning.
"It is really a theory of a culture war. And we are seeing that play out these days in the language that we are using with each other," said Giles. "What kind of a community do we want to live in and where is our civil society."
Three of the Skiljan's neighbors also received this same stenciling on the sidewalk.
"The thing we all have in common is we have some version of BLM in our yard," said Carol Skiljan.
The Skiljan's blame the vandalism on the current president and the politically divisive environment.
"I've never seen such extreme tactics - this is out of control. It is an example of hatred spewed by our president and his ilk," said Jeff Skiljan.
The San Diego County Sheriffs Department is investigating the damage. The city will be responsible for removing the graffiti from the sidewalks since it is on city property.
