A swastika spray-painted on a wall next to the nation's oldest Holocaust memorial in Philadelphia has been discovered, sparking an investigation into vandalism.
The symbol of hate, measuring about 2 feet by 2 feet, was discovered early Sunday on the wall of a Verizon building on Arch Street adjacent to Horowitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Square, police said.
Around 1:30 a.m., authorities said surveillance footage showed a masked man quickly scrawling Nazi insignia with green spray paint.
A police press release describes the suspect as an “unknown male” who was last seen wearing a dark-colored jacket, possibly brown, with a white stripe running down his chest and arms. .
“It's a monument to the Holocaust,” said Esther Kutas, executive director of the Philadelphia Holocaust Memorial Foundation, which manages the monument. told NBC Philadelphia. “It's especially upsetting to see hate symbols in Holocaust Memorial Square.”
The swastika was removed within hours of its discovery.
This despicable act of vandalism comes amid a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic incidents across the United States following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza War.
data Collected by the Anti-Defamation League It marks a 360% spike in anti-Semitic attacks in the country since the deadly conflict erupted in the Middle East.
“We strongly condemn the disgraceful act of spray-painting a swastika near Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Square,” said Andrew Goretsky, ADL Philadelphia Regional Director. said in a statement regarding X. “This reprehensible act not only desecrates symbols commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, but also highlights the disturbing rise in anti-Semitism plaguing our community.”
The Philadelphia Memorial is the oldest public Holocaust memorial in the United States and was built in the 1950s by Holocaust survivors and members of the Jewish community.
The monument was built in 1964 and redesigned in 2018 with new installations and artifacts.
