Authorities are looking for anyone with information leading to the arrest of vandals who spray-painted a Jewish synagogue in Poway with white supremacist remarks late last month.

While there still are no arrests in the case, activists are confident that with the help of funds gathered after the attacks that took place after the 2006 San Diego Pride Festival, someone might come forward.

The Ner Tamid Synagogue on Pomerado Road near Meadowbrook Lane in Poway was defaced sometime between 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, and 8 a.m. on Sunday, April 28.

The vandals left a combination of letters, numbers and signs in blue and black paint that included symbols synonymous with the phrase “Heil Hitler,” according to sheriff’s detectives.

Authorities have classified the attack as a hate crime and community activists from San Diego County Crime Stoppers, the Hate Crime Reward Fund and the Anti-Defamation League have offered a combined reward of up to $11,500 for information. Approximately $9,000 of the Hate Crime Reward Fund will be used for the reward.

“We’re really glad that we were able to utilize the Hate Crime Reward Fund to try to help bring forward someone who might know something about the crime and assist in locating a suspect in the case,” said Sally Cox, the executive director of Crime Stoppers, a nonprofit organization that brings together community volunteers, law enforcement, and the media with a shared goal – solving crime in San Diego.

The Hate Crime Reward Fund was established after the attacks following the 2006 San Diego Pride Festival.

“You can start with one group where you tolerate discrimination and hatred and that is going to eventually spread to all groups. But members of the gay and lesbian community put together this fund so that whenever a hate crime takes place in the future there is a reward already in place so that the people committing such crimes know others are watching and the police are going to find them,” Cox said.

City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez, who helped establish the Hate Crimes Fund, said he is pleased to know funds from the GLBT community are uniting other communities during times of need.

“The silence of the gay community during other hate crimes is unacceptable and we must start speaking out against these hate crimes,” Murray-Ramirez said. “By utilizing the money from the hate crimes reward fund it is our way of doing so and letting other communities know that we are there, we care and we will not tolerate such hate.”

Murray-Ramirez announced the start of the Hate Crimes Reward Fund and the Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol at a hate crimes rally after the 2006 attacks.

The community raised $36,000 to establish the fund for future use.

“It was at that time that I announced that this money would be used to combat any hate crime, because hate crimes against any individual in San Diego is a hate crime against us all,” Murray-Ramirez said.

Members of at the Ner Tamid Synagogue echoed Murray-Ramirez’s belief, saying they had been singled out.

“This was not the work of ordinary vandals, but of people who want to be hateful and who tried to hurt us as a synagogue and as Jews,” said Mitchell Freedman, president of Ner Tamid.

While this is the first crime in three years at the Ner Tamid Synagogue, it is not the first time hate crimes have been reported in the region.

Poway Unified School District trustees earlier this year revised the district’s policy on harassment and anti-hate behavior after nooses were found at two high schools in October and November 2007.

A third incident at another campus in which a student wore a Halloween ghost costume that some said resembled a Ku Klux Klan outfit also prompted the tougher school policy.

Westview High School in San Diego was vandalized with swastikas in December and March. Hubbert said it is not known if the synagogue vandalism is connected to the school incidents.

Authorities said the numbered markings indicated that the vandalism was hate-related but other markings on the sign are unknown.

“We as a community cannot forget that we should be appalled that such crimes are taking place. I’m just glad that we could reach out and try to help solve such cases of hate,” Murray-Ramirez said.

Because of the severity of the incident at the Ner Tamid Synagogue, as well as the risk to informants, Cox said, Crime Stoppers utilized $9,000 – the maximum amount allowed for a case – from the Hate Crime Reward Fund.

San Diego County Crime Stoppers added $1,000 and the Anti-Defamation League donated $1,500 to the reward.

Cox said that she is confident the reward money will elicit a response.

While authorities would not comment on whether there is a suspect in the case, they said there have been tips.

Cox also said, while this is one of the first times the reward money has been utilized, she is confident there will be continued support from the GLBT community and all communities to help raise funds for such cases.

“Right now we have been pretty lucky because we have not had to utilize the fund before, but we saw how fast this money was raised and I know that people will continue to come forward to help sustain the fund,” she said.

People with information about the Ner Tamid Synagogue case can contact the authorities, or anonymously give a tip by calling 888-580-TIPS (8477) or by visiting the Crime Stoppers Web site at www.sdcrimestoppers.com.

For more information about San Diego County Crime Stoppers and the Hate Crime Reward Fund, call Sally Cox at 619-275-8240 or e-mail sally@sdcrimestoppers.com.