BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER)-- Bangor Police have arrested four seventeen year old boys in connection with graffiti and vandalism. This includes the vandalism at two Bangor synagogues over the weekend.
Three boys were charged with Class C aggravated criminal mischief for damage amounting to more than one thousand dollars.
Police say the boys have been spray painting or tagging the city this summer.
Sergeant Paul Edwards with Bangor Police Department said, "As of last night we have had twelve calls of criminal mischief most of them involving spray paint. It is difficult to go down State Street without seeing tagging to spray paint to any kind of business or wall or what have you."
While in custody the four boys told police it is a sign of respect to have their name is so many places.
They have been connected with the spray painting of swastikas on Beth Israel and Beth Abraham over the weekend.
The Attorney General will determine if the swastikas and graffiti left on the synagogues qualify as a hate crime.
The city continues to take calls from residents about graffiti on their home or businesses.
According to Edwards, it will has already cost the city a lot of money, "It does cost the city thousands of dollars to repair and replace signs and they have been doing that all summer. It has just gotten worse since this group of four people seem to have been going out nightly and creating this havoc."
The four boys have been released into the custody of their parents.