RANGELEY -- The Jewish man whose housing development was the site of what police call a hate crime called it "very disturbing" and perpetrated by "misguided people."

"In no way," said Hermie Glick, owner of the Round Pond Maine development, "is it indicative of the greater Rangeley population as a whole."

Someone last week painted over one of his property's signs, and slapped offensive words on a trailer parked there and owned by general contractor M&H Construction. The writings included a swastika, "KKK," "wite power" and "wight power."

Glick, a New Yorker who spends his summers in the development, discovered the graffiti Aug. 2. Police responded, and Police Chief Phil Weymouth on Aug. 4 called it a hate crime.

A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson or vandalism with an added element of bias. Congress has defined it as a "criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation."

"Hopefully, it's isolated," Glick said of the defacing of the property, adding, "I can't read into that," when asked if he thought juveniles had done the misspellings of "white."

The investigation is continuing, said Weymouth.

The Rangeley incident was not an isolated one, nor do law-enforcement officials believe one such event can be linked to another. Hate crimes occur across Maine, attacking people of many religions and ethnicities, sexual orientation or other demographic category, say state officials.

According to the Office of the Attorney General, 44 -- or 66 percent -- of hate-related crimes reported in Maine last year involved race or color. Sexual orientation was a distant second, with 16 reported cases, or 24 percent.

There were nine reported offenses involving religion, three with ancestry, two with national origin and one each with gender and constitutional rights.

Sarah Walton, assistant professor of justice studies at the University of Maine at Augusta, said juveniles often commit the crimes.

"It does seem as though junior high might be a typical age," said Walton, co-author of the Maine Law Enforcement Officer's Manual and a former assistant state attorney general.

Walton said misspellings can sometimes indicate the involvement of gangs, who often intentionally misspell words.

As for the law, there is no difference between an adult and a juvenile committing a hate crime.

"Under Maine law, there is no minimum age for criminal culpability," Walton said. "Prosecutors must make good use of their discretion."

Last October in Bangor, a civil-rights group was the target of what a civil-rights expert called one of the most serious Maine hate crimes in recent memory.

Thom Harnett, an assistant attorney general, said Kendrick Sawyer, of Brewer, made threats against the Greater Bangor Area National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

According to the document filed in Penobscot Superior Court, Sawyer made threats of violence against black and Hispanic people in general, and the Greater Bangor Area NAACP especially. Sawyer told a police officer that he did not like blacks and Hispanics, and was going to shoot them, the document read.

"The Bangor branch canceled public meetings, then met in secret with police on hand," Harnett said. "It was one of the most high-profile cases of the last year."

On June 27, the state agreed to delay civil action for six months so Sawyer could continue to receive medical treatment and counseling.

Episodes of vandalism can't always be linked to events that might first appear to be racially motivated, police say.

Central Maine has been victimized this year by acts that might -- or might not -- fit into the category of hate crimes.

Someone defaced St. Augustine's Catholic Church in Augusta with the words "Peace Jesus" and "Oh God" in April. And last month, police arrested two teenage girls who admitted to desecrating a Unity cemetery.

The Rev. Louis Phillips, pastor at the Augusta-based St. Michael Parish, said, in certain circumstances, both could be hate crimes. Phillips sees the vandalized church, however, in a different light.

"I'm sensitive to that," Phillips said of hate crimes. "But I haven't noticed much of that around here. I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt. It was part of an overall neighborhood attack. I'm not sure the church was being singled out."

Deborah Marlowe, cantor at Beth Israel Synagogue of Waterville, said she suspects youngsters in the Rangeley case. At least that's what she hopes, she said.

"I'm hoping that's all it is -- vandalism," Marlowe said.

"It just doesn't sound right," she said. "This type of stuff isn't necessarily just against Jews. It's just madmen."

Juveniles caught doing such things in her hometown of Philadelphia usually end up doing community service, Marlowe said.

Kenny Haley, M&H's general manager, said the Glicks "don't deserve this. They're a great family."

Larry Grard -- 861-9239

lgrard@centralmaine.com