Law enforcement officials in Washington, D.C. are investigating after swastikas were found drawn on the exterior of Washington Union Station.
The vandalism at the train station comes a day after International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which took place on January 27, and is honored to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.
In a post on Twitter Friday morning, CBS News White House reporter Bo Erickson posted images of the vandalism.
"There are hand-drawn swastikas all over the entrance to Union Station in DC. Almost every column," Erickson wrote.
There are hand-drawn swastikas all over the entrance to Union Station in DC. Almost every column: pic.twitter.com/3lUk8iL7Cx
— Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) January 28, 2022
When reached for comment on Friday morning, Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department referred Newsweek to Amtrak, which is handling the investigation of the vandalism.
"An investigation is underway after property damage was reported at Washington Union Station," Kimberly Woods, a spokesperson for Amtrak told Newsweek Friday morning.
"Amtrak Police is working with the Metropolitan Police Department to investigate," she added.
Many condemned the vandalism on social media.
"This is deeply disturbing," the Jewish Democratic Council of America tweeted.
"When will enough be enough? How much antisemitism must Jewish Americans endure before our leaders will take real action?"
"Disgusting. To see these symbols appear the morning after #HolocaustRemembranceDay is a cruel reminder that antisemitism still permeates our society," Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, wrote on Twitter Friday morning.
"We must speak out against such hateful acts when we see them," she added.
Disgusting. To see these symbols appear the morning after #HolocaustRemembranceDay is a cruel reminder that antisemitism still permeates our society. We must speak out against such hateful acts when we see them. https://t.co/LxzE4ZDJ3P
— Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (@RepMGS) January 28, 2022
Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated on January 27—the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp, was liberated.
"On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides," the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum wrote on its website.
The day was officially proclaimed by the United Nations in November 2005.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents in the United States are being reported at "record levels."
The organization tracked 2,024 reported antisemitic incidents throughout the country in 2020.
"While this was a four percent decrease from the 2,107 incidents recorded in 2019, it was still the third-highest year on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979," the organization wrote on its website on January 16.
Of the 2020 cases, the Anti-Defamation League said 1,242 of the reported incidents were cases of harassment, 51 incidents were cases of vandalism, and 31 were cases of antisemitic assault.
Updated 01/28/2022, 3:14 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with a photo of Washington Union Station.
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