Some folks in the L.A.'s Jewish community are still hosting memorial events following Jan. 27's International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

So the timing was alarming when chalk outlines of bodies, like those in old-time murder scenes, showed up on sidewalks in front of not one but two Jewish community centers in the Fairfax District this week.

Police received a call Tuesday morning about the chalk outlines, which were doused with red paint that looks like blood and accompanied by a social media hashtag term, said Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Richard Askew.

“One was in front of a Jewish community center, further up Fairfax, where there was a Holocaust remembrance event being planned,” he told us. “Business owners in the area were not sure if it was a threat.”

Police so far believe that the six chalk outlines up and down the 400 to 600 blocks of North Fairfax Avenue are connected to a marketing campaign. “We are investigating an apparent promotional ad campaign by a local business,” the LAPD's Wilshire Division tweeted yesterday.


The situation was still under investigation, so police wouldn't reveal what the hashtag said, Askew told us.

“We're still working to resolve it,” he said.

In any case, investigators don't appear to believe this is a hate crime. It might just be a marketing misstep.

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