Police release photo of possible suspect in vandalism of US Rep. Nancy Mace’s SC home

Nearly two weeks after South Carolina U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace discovered her Daniel Island home had been vandalized, police say they now have a lead in the case.

Charleston police on Friday released a photo of an unknown person who on Feb. 23 vandalized Bishop England High School, a nearby private high school on Daniel Island.

In that incident, police said the unidentified offender sprayed graffiti all around the Catholic high school. Surveillance footage showed the person wearing a black sweatshirt and dark pants, moving around the school, and tagging various spots.

One of the symbols the offender left behind was the letter “A” inside of a circle. The symbol is commonly associated with anarchy, but police say the mark has now linked the Feb. 23 school vandalism incident to the May 31 vandalism reported at Mace’s home.

“Analysts have determined that there are similarities noted between both vandalisms and that the same individual is responsible for both vandalisms,” police spokesman Harve Jacobs said in a statement.

At the time of the May 31 incident, a statement and a video released by Mace’s congressional office showed graffiti painted on the street outside the freshman Republican congresswoman’s home, as well as on the sidewalk leading up to her house and on the side of her home.

Part of the graffiti on the sidewalk read, “No gods, no masters, all politicians are bastards.” It was followed by the anarchist “A” symbol.

“Pass the pro act” also was spray painted on the side of her home, referring to a bill currently in Congress that would protect the rights of workers to organize.

Mace on Friday tweeted her thanks to the U.S. Capitol Police, FBI, the State Law Enforcement Division and Charleston Police for their work in trying to identify the person responsible for what she called “criminal intimidation tactics.”

“Over the past several days, law enforcement has been working diligently to identify the individual(s) who spent Memorial Day trespassing on my property and vandalizing my home,” Mace wrote.

She also stressed in separate tweet, in all-caps, that it was “HANDWRITING analysis” that matched the vandalism at her home with the vandalism found at the nearby high school.

It appeared to be yet another attempt by Mace to squelch the social media rumors that had accused Mace of being the person behind the vandalism at her home.

In the aftermath of the May 31 incident, social media users had zeroed in on the way the letter “i” was dotted and the curl of the lower-case “a” and compared it to Mace’s own handwriting.

A police report provided to media outlets after the Memorial Day weekend noted officers had also found other graffiti at different locations across Daniel Island. In Barfield Park, someone spray painted the acronym for “Make American Great Again” in pink spraypaint and wrote an expletive on the ground at Center Park. Near Daniel Island Drive and Mazo Street, someone also spray painted “Black Lives Matter” in the roadway, according to the police report.

This was not the first vandalism reported by Mace.

In October 2020, a month before she was elected to Congress, Mace reported that her car had been keyed and an expletive had been scratched into the door.

At the time, Mace said she was convinced the act was politically motivated and meant to intimidate her.

After the May 31 incident, Mace’s congressional campaign sent a fundraising email with the subject line, “Did you see what Antifa vandals did to my house?”

Anyone with information regarding the vandalism incidents or if they can can help identify the individual seen in the photograph is asked to call 843-743-7200, Crimestoppers at 843-554-1111, or email Sgt. Voges of the Charleston Police Department at vogess@charleston-sc.gov.