A Republican official in Cohasset, Massachusetts, says a swastika was painted on his sign supporting former President Donald Trump.
Kevin O'Donnell, chair of the Cohasset Republican Town Committee, denounced the use of the hate symbol. He said it must have happened sometime after 9 a.m. Wednesday, in the daylight.
"I just thought we were above that. I just thought that wouldn't occur in this election, or any election — there's no Nazis in America," O'Donnell said.
The incident comes as others across Massachusetts, and across the political spectrum, experience an increase in sign thefts and vandalism in the leadup to the election.
About two weeks earlier, lawn signs supporting three Democrats — Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jim McGovern — were set on fire in a Sterling yard.
Last month in Tyngsborough, Trump signs were cut up and tossed into the woods.
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"Very disappointed," Massachusetts Republican National Committeewoman Janet Fogarty said of the defacement in Cohasset. "There's a strong Jewish community on the South Shore, and it's a very heavily-trafficked road."
Fogarty is urging people to voice their opinions at the ballot box.
"Everyone's entitled to vote for who they want, and speak about who they want, but don't be using such hateful terminology
Steve Kerrigan, chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, also denounced the vandalism.
"Even with such a hard-fought campaign, we must be able to conduct our elections free of any and all vandalism or violence," Kerrigan said in a statement. "We are better than this."
Cohasset police are looking at nearby surveillance video as they investigate.
