The steps and surrounding area where Santa Fe’s historic Cross of the Martyrs resides suffered from graffiti and vandalism sometime late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

“No pride in genocide,” which was one of the phrases painted at the Cross of the Martyrs, was also painted in large print onto a wall near the corner of Don Gaspar Avenue and San Francisco Street, where it was still visible as of Friday afternoon.

Santa Fe police Deputy Chief Matthew Champlin wrote in an email his department does not have much information regarding the vandalism, since the department had no video surveillance trailer in the area. He added the video trailer had issues with the generator at the time.

From the pictures he has seen, Champlin said in an interview he could not see vandalism on the cross itself. He said the majority — if not all — of the graffiti was placed on the steps and walls surrounding the cross.

Champlin said the content of the graffiti were mostly words and phrases referring to genocide.

He said the phrases “no pride in genocide” and “respect us or expect us” were written near the cross and repeated throughout the steps and walls.

Champlin said the case into who vandalized the Cross of the Martyrs is active. However, he added finding the perpetrators will be difficult.

“Cases like that are pretty hard unless somebody comes forward with information, a tip or pointing the finger at somebody,” Champlin said. “It can be … difficult, especially if there is not video evidence or any witnesses.”

He added in a text message there were “a few other buildings” in downtown which got vandalized overnight. However, he wrote since the police report is incomplete, he could not provide exact locations.

The graffiti coincides with the beginning of the Fiesta de Santa Fe, a yearly celebration of the Spanish reconquest of the city in 1692 that will be taking place this weekend.

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