RANCHO PENASQUITOS – Vandals struck at Westview High School over the weekend, leaving a scrawled racial epithet and profanity scratched into a window, broken windows, and feces and urine in the hallway of a science building.

Principal Dawn Kastner alerted parents to the incident with e-mails Saturday, describing what happened as a “cowardly and deplorable act.” The Poway Unified School District has offered a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the vandals.

The school near Rancho Peñasquitos, which has an open campus, has been the target of two previous graffiti incidents, in March 2008 and December 2007, both involving swastikas.

There was no evidence the vandals were students, but teachers were asked to review anti-hate policies in classrooms. Kastner said “the students I've talked to have been mad” about the damage to the campus and school image.

The school is preparing to install surveillance equipment to deter additional vandalism.

The latest damage, which occurred Friday night, was cleaned up before students arrived Monday, the beginning of the second week of the new school year.

Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call San Diego police at (619) 531-2000 or the district's Safe Schools hotline at (858) 668-4161.

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