An Anne Frank memorial in Boise, Idaho, was vandalized with antisemitic images on Saturday, during Hanukkah, local authorities said.
The Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise is the only memorial to Frank, a famous victim of the Holocaust, in the United States. The tunnels near the memorial were reportedly defaced with at least a dozen instances of antisemitic and other hateful graffiti images, Boise police said.
"We recognize the significance of this being the last Saturday of Hanukkah and we are reaching out to Jewish leaders in our community to let them know we will not stand for such hateful and abhorrent behavior in our city," Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee said.
The vandalism reportedly included swastikas, a symbol used by the Nazi Party in Germany before and during World War II, as well as by modern-day neo-Nazi groups.
Boise Parks employees began cleaning away the hateful imagery after authorities had discovered it, Lee explained. Lee added that he does not believe there is any threat to the Boise Jewish community and that an investigation into the vandalism is ongoing.
“We do not believe that there’s any reason to have any enhanced security concerns, particularly for the Jewish community,” he said.
Mayor Lauren McLean said in a statement that the graffiti was a “literal and figurative stain on our community. This will not be tolerated," the Idaho Statesman reports.
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“Hate speech is reprehensible. It is not who (we) are as a city and is not part of our shared values,” she said in the statement. “I invite all good people of Boise to stand with me, as I stand with our Jewish neighbors, to rebuke this hate.”
This year, the eight-day Jewish Hanukkah celebration spans from Nov. 28 to Dec. 6.