Swastikas (file)
Swastikas (file)Flash 90

The glass door of a synagogue in the Sugar House area of Salt Lake City, Utah was defaced with a swastika.

A photo of the damage was posted to social media on Sunday by Chabad Lubavitch of Utah’s Rabbi Avremi Zippel.

According to KSL TV, the vandalism occurred at 2 a.m. on Sunday, and it has left the Jewish community worried for their safety.

“This is the first time we’ve had to encounter something like this,” Zippel said in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune.

He added that he thinks the vandalism is connected to the current situation in Israel and Gaza.

He contacted the FBI about the incident. The FBI had previously recommended that the synagogue place itself on high alert due to rising tensions in the Middle East.

“We will not cower in fear. #AmYisraelChai,” Zippel wrote in the post.

“Beyond the property damage, which is upsetting, to have that kind of sentiment scratched into glass on a synagogue in 2021 in Salt Lake City, I have to say, really kind of left us really shook,” Zippel told the Tribune.

Multiple Utah politicians expressed their support for Zippel and Utah’s Jewish community following the report of the incident.

“By extending his hand of fellowship to a rabbi and synagogue, our first president marked the way to be taken by all Americans. Those who commit acts of vandalism against Jews or their places of worship in Salt Lake City or anywhere else only disgrace their own souls,” wrote Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT).

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall also tweeted her support for the Jewish community.

“Standing with you @UtahRabbi and Salt Lake City’s Jewish community against this act of hatred and intimidation,” she said.