BETHEL PARK, Pa. — A rock garden in Bethel Park was started during the pandemic as a way to boost people’s spirits and share love throughout the community. On Sunday, a shocking discovery was made when a rock painted with swastikas was found in the garden.
The Bethel Park rock garden owner said, “It’s upsetting. This is a family neighborhood and I’m glad that it was two adults that found it and not children or a family.”
The Bethel Park woman doesn’t want to share her name or face in fear of retaliation, but she is sharing what happened this weekend to the rock garden she created.
She said, “There is a lot of hate and people feel more vocal to share that.”
Sunday, two neighbors walking on Logan Road by the rock garden were stunned when they found a painted white rock with a red swastika on each side. Channel 11 has blurred it because we don’t want to share images of hate.
She added, “I think they were as shocked and as shaken as we were.”
She reported it to Bethel Park Police and posted about it on social media.
“We have a wonderful community here. We’ve had such support around the garden itself and what it has meant and we can’t be silenced,” the rock garden owner said.
The rock garden, which has tripled in size over the past five years, hadn’t been disrupted until last year.
She explained, “We’ve had some signs stolen, we’ve had some inclusive DEI-themed Bethel Park signs that were stolen and taken twice.”
That prompted her to put surveillance cameras in her garden, just in case something happened again.
“Once the footage is sorted through, we can take it back to them and they will look to see if they can identify who it is,” she explained.
Bethel Park police confirmed they’re investigating. They say they have not had any other reports like this.
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