New York: A Sanatan Dharam temple was vandalised in Washington state with windows broken and the word "Fear" painted on it, less than a fortnight after another temple was attacked. Members of the Sanatan Dharma Temple in Kent, about 30km from Seattle, who came for worship Friday "were greeted by shards of broken glass after vandals targeted the building," KING5-TV, a Seattle NBC affiliate, reported. According to the temple web site, "Amalaki Ekadashi" was to be observed Saturday. Bricks were used to smash every window of the building and parts of the structure were ripped apart, said KOMO-TV, an ABC affiliate in Seattle. "The crime is small-minded with big intentions, shattering calm with hate," the station's reporter, John Humbert, said. "Silence isn't the answer."

Universal Society of Hinduism President Rajan Zed, said: "Hindus nationwide are highly concerned" by the second attack on a temple in recent days. "It was shocking for the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful US Hindu community numbering about three million, who had made (a) lot of contribution to the nation and society, to receive such signals of hatred and anger." On February 15, the Hindu Temple Cultural Centre in Bothell city, about 35 km from Seattle, found a swastika painted on it and "Get Out" scrawled in large letters with spray paint. In the US, white supremacists have adopted the Nazi swastika as an ideological symbol. The two temple attacks came after President Barack Obama's criticism of India at an inter-religious prayer meeting earlier in February where he said intolerance there "would have shocked Gandhiji". Both temples do not have security cameras "and info on the vandals remains elusive," KOMO-TV said. The incidents are under police investigation.