Tunnels near Anne Frank memorial vandalized with antisemitic messages during Hanukkah

Police are searching for the people responsible for vandalizing tunnels with swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti near the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise, Idaho.

The tunnels were vandalized overnight Friday during Hanukkah with hate-filled messages toward Jews and other minority groups, Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee told Idaho 6 news.

The Boise Police Department was notified Saturday morning and tweeted that the incident was being investigated.

“We recognize the significance of this being the last Saturday of Hanukkah, and we are reaching out to Jewish leaders in our community to let them know we will not stand for such hateful and abhorrent behavior in our city,” Lee said in a tweet on the department's account.

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USA TODAY has reached out to the Boise Police Department for comment.

Boise Parks and Recreation workers began cleaning the graffiti and painting over it on Saturday, according to a tweet from the BPD.

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said the antisemitic messages will leave a "literal and figurative stain" on the community in a post on Facebook.

"Hate speech is reprehensible. It is not who [we] are as a city and is not part of our shared values. I invite all good people of Boise to stand with me, as I stand with our Jewish neighbors, to rebuke this hate," McLean wrote.

The Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial opened in 2002 and is the only Anne Frank memorial in the United States, according to the memorial's website.

The memorial was vandalized around this time last year with swastika stickers, according to NPR.

Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tunnels near Anne Frank Memorial vandalized with antisemitic messages