Vandal splatters red paint on Israeli-owned kitchen store in Maryland

A vandal splatters red paint reminiscent of blood on an Israeli-owned kitchen design store in Maryland.

Idan Tzameret, the owner of Kitchen Design by Idan, says his store has been targeted with repeated vandalism since the start of the Gaza war, apparently because of the Israeli flags hanging from the front of the building.

A friend called him at 6:30 a.m. this morning to say he had some “bad news — somebody spray-painted your door in red.”

“I was like, ‘okay, it happened again,” Tzameret tells The Times of Israel, adding that today is his birthday.

“I got a nice gift for my birthday,” he says. He has spent most of the day dealing with the police and arranging a clean-up.

Photos show red paint streaking down his store’s white door, one of his Israeli flags soaked in red, and more paint splattered on the sidewalk in front of the entrance.

The store has three Israeli and three American flags on its facade.

Tzameret provides customers with custom interior designs and build services for kitchens.

Tzameret has been in the US for 23 years, started his business seven years ago, and has been in his current location for four years. The store is in Towson, in Baltimore County.

He has filed four police reports in the past two years due to vandalism, but estimates the store has been targeted in about 20 different incidents.

In some of the incidents, a swastika was spray-painted onto one of his Israeli flags, stickers accusing Israel of genocide were plastered on his fence, and a man entered the store and shouted at one of his employees.

He says he has security camera footage of the individual who vandalized his store last night and will press charges in federal court.

“I get pretty good support from the community and pretty good support from people who matter,” Tzameret says.

The FBI yesterday released an annual report indicating antisemitic crimes hit a record 1,938 incidents in the US in 2024.