A store in Denver called Isis Books & Gifts was vandalized over the weekend because it has the misfortune of sharing its name with a terrorist organization, and now the owner wants the world to know that its name comes from the Egyptian Goddess and not the group ISIS.
Co-owner Jeff Harrison says that the store has been vandalized five times in the past year, likely because it shares its name with ISIS, one of the acronyms for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, according to the Associated Press.
The most recent vandalism came over the weekend when someone threw a brick through the sign outside the business, likely spurred on by the terrorist attacks in Paris.
"We're all very heartbroken [about the Paris attacks] so I don't know if somebody walking down the street just saw our name on the sign and kind of lost it for a moment and threw a rock through it," store owner Karen Charboneau-Harrison told FOX's Denver affiliate KDVR-TV. "Or if it was an ignorant person who actually thought this was a bookstore for terrorists, I don't know."
Harrison asserts that the store is named after the Egyptian goddess Isis, who symbolizes caring human traits like childbirth and healing, the opposite of terrorism.
"Isis is the name of an Egyptian goddess, 3,500 years old at least, the goddess of women and healing and childbirth-basically the antithesis of everything the terrorists are about," he said, according to Newser.
Harrison says that the store has been in business since 1980, selling books and gifts related to spirituality and healing, and has no intention of changing the name despite the harassment.
"Business has been fine," he said. "Actually on the uptick."
