BUCKTOWN — Beloved indie music venue and dive bar The Hideout has been vandalized twice over the past month, according to the owners and police.
Someone cut the bar’s electrical cables and stole the ComEd electric meter Oct. 4, the bar owners said in an Instagram post. An “unsigned note with anti-vaccination rhetoric” was taped to the empty meter box, owners said.
Then Oct. 17, someone spray painted white supremacist symbols and graffiti across the bar’s front windows and doors, as well as on a neighboring building, the owners said.
“We believe it is our duty to make the public aware for their safety and our staffs when coming and leaving the Hideout,” bar owners said in a statement Wednesday. “We have implemented additional security measures, both seen and unseen, including security, and perimeter cameras. The Hideout has always, and will continue to be committed to the safety for staff, performers, and patrons.”
Owner Katie Tuten and a Hideout spokesperson declined to comment beyond the post.
Police said no one has been arrested and detectives are investigating. The bar owners encourage anyone with information to contact the Chicago FBI field office or the 14th Police District.
Trader Todd’s in Lakeview was vandalized in a similar manner in September, when someone scrawled racist and anti-vaccination-related messages on windows, and broke others.
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