Police are looking for the culprits responsible for defacing headstones at a Jewish cemetery after more than a dozen were spray-painted with swastikas and other graffiti.
Police responded to a call at the Congregation Am Echod Jewish Cemetery in Waukegan, Illinois, on Monday morning after a report of 16 large headstones with bright red swastikas alongside 23 other defaced headstones, ABC 7 Chicago reported.
"In the immediate aftermath of the continued escalation of antisemitic incidents, this one hits hard," David Goldenberg, the Anti-Defamation League's Midwest regional director, told WLS.
"What it really represents is this normalization of antisemitism, and that is what we find to be incredibly concerning. We have to remember that this is a fringe element of our society and we far outnumber them. So we got to be smarter than them.
"We have to be just as aggressive as them, and we got to be louder than that. And that's how you fight back."
The ADL reports that since 2016 antisemitic incidents in Illinois have grown by 430%.
Goldenberg adds that the disturbing trend has persisted on a "near daily basis."
In a statement, Waukegan Mayor Ann B. Taylor called for accountability.
"I am deeply disturbed and angered by the hateful imagery found spray-painted on headstones this morning in Am Echod Jewish Cemetery," she said. "Hate does not have a home in Waukegan; when such incidents occur, our marginalized neighbors are victimized, and our entire community suffers.
"I hope our officers promptly locate the perpetrators of this despicable act and hold them accountable, and I offer my full support to those directly impacted by this vandalism."
The Waukegan Police Department is urging anyone with information to contact them immediately.
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