Police in Swampscott, Massachusetts, are investigating after a pro-Israel yard sign was defaced with antisemitic graffiti.
The vandalism happened overnight Monday into Tuesday, police said. Photos showed swastikas on both sides of the sign, which reads "We Stand With Israel."
Sam, a high school senior, couldn't believe what he saw in his yard when heading to school Tuesday morning.
"At first, I only saw the words 'Murder, free Palestine,' etc.," he recalled. "Then I walked a little closer to it, and I noticed there was a swastika on one side over the Star of David."
Sam described the experience as surreal.
"I was just walking, and it was almost like out-of-body," he said. "I was just, at first, kind of frozen. I didn't know how I felt."
Rabbi Yossi Lipsker, executive director of Chabad of the North Shore, said the hateful graffiti must be called out.
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"It gives us a chance to really come together, and for good people in the community -- that are not part of the Jewish community, but are part of the wider community -- to join us and say 'We will not stand for this,'" Lipsker said.
The Essex County District Attorney's Office and the Anti-Defamation League have been in communication with the Swampscott Police Department. Anyone with information is asked to call 781-595-1111.
