PORTLAND, Ore. — If you push open the door of Sunlan Lighting on North Mississippi Avenue, you'll hear a woman call out, "How can I light your world today?"
For the past 30 years, Kay Newell has owned and managed the specialty lighting store. But Wednesday morning, her shop looked different: One of the windows was shattered.
“This morning, when my son came in, he noticed it," Newell recalled. "There’s this big depression where something hit really hard."
Behind the shattered glass is a window display celebrating Jewish, Christian and Islamic beliefs. Newell said they put up the display the night before the vandalism occurred. She said she believes the damage to this display, as Hanukkah begins, is no coincidence.
"They didn’t hit any of our other displays, and it was taken out just after John put in this display," Newell said. "These items, while they’re very old, probably aren’t worth a great deal of money, but they symbolize something that is very dear to many people’s hearts.”
Other windows at the shop showcase classic Christmas characters, like Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman; some even honor other world religions.
Newell said she's concerned this damage was targeted.
“Right now, we have very serious wars going on, fought among these same people, and it has trickled into the United States," she said.
While Newell maintains the person who damaged her window won't accomplish their goal, they have cost her a couple thousand dollars.
“My message to the person who did this: Find the light in yourself. Share that, not the burden of hate," Newell said.