Washington DC
Washington DCiStock

The entrance to Washington DC’s Union Station was found covered in swastikas on Friday.

The swastikas were hand drawn on almost every column of the front of the city’s central train station, according to local journalists who shared the photos on social media.

CBS News White House reporter Bo Erickson tweeted photos of the graffiti. “There are hand-drawn swastikas all over the entrance to Union Station in DC. Almost every column,” he said.

The photos of the swastika graffiti sparked outrage from Jewish groups and lawmakers in the city.

“We are disturbed by this video of a swastika taken this morning just outside DC’s Union Station,” the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington said in a Twitter post. “This antisemitic and hateful symbol has no place in our society, and to find it in our city the week of International Holocaust Remembrance Day is particularly offensive.”

The Washington DC chapter of the ADL said in a statement that it was “extremely disturbed” to learn of the antisemitic graffiti.

“This hateful act is incredible alarming especially since yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day,” they said. “Once again this reinforces the need to teach about antisemitism and hate.”

“We call on law enforcement to conduct a swift investigation,” they added.

Sheila Katz, the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, tweeted: “Yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. Today, my friend shared the horror of walking through Union Station in DC to find swastikas on every single column. Too many to count. This is not okay. Your Jewish friends are exhausted and need you as partners in calling out antisemitism.”

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) described the vandalism in a tweet as “sickening,” and added that “antisemitism is real and we cannot tolerate it.”

Amtrak told ABC News in a statement that "an investigation is underway after property damage was reported at Washington Union Station. Amtrak Police is working with the Metropolitan Police Department to investigate."

In a statement, Yad Vashem said, "The use of swastikas, a symbol of evil, cruelty and death, as graffiti outside of Union Station in the capital of the United States of America, a mere two miles from the White House, is repugnant."

"Following the observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and juxtaposed to the fact that antisemitic materials can be easily purchased with the click of a button, these incidents highlight a very distressing situation not only in the US, but all over the world.

"We can not allow such forms of hated to run rampant. Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, gathers historically accurate content related to the Holocaust and disseminates it to the world in order to combat all forms ignorance and hatred."

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)