Sole Anne Frank memorial in US vandalized with swastikas, days before Hanukkah

Nine stickers that depicted the words, “We are everywhere,” along with a swastika were found throughout the memorial, according to the Idaho Statesman. One sticker was affixed to the diary portion of a statue of Frank and another to a statue meant to depict the “spiral of injustice.”

The vandalism took place just days before Hanukkah, which will begin on Thursday at sundown.

“It’s sad that this is becoming a statement of who and what our community is,” Dan Prinzing, director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, which maintains the memorial, told USA Today. “Is this what we’re becoming?”

“It does cause us concern,” Boise Police Department Chief Ryan Lee said on Wednesday. “We take instances of hate and hate messaging, and particularly things such as neo-Nazi conduct, with serious concern and alarm.”

The Idaho Human Rights Education Center, later renamed the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, opened the memorial in 2002. The statue itself was largely funded by students of the state.

In 2017, the memorial was tagged with anti-Semitic slurs, according to USA Today, causing $20,000 in damage.

In response to the sticker incident, columnist Frida Ghitis wrote, “Let this be an opportunity for all school children, for all Americans, to learn who Anne Frank was, what she stood for, and why she was killed.”

MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell tweeted, “American Nazis think Anne Frank has not suffered enough.”

The matter is still under investigation as the authorities review surveillance footage. The Washington Examiner reached out to the Boise Police Department to inquire about any updates in the case but did not immediately hear back.