Three headstones in a Jewish cemetery (illustrative)
Three headstones in a Jewish cemetery (illustrative)iStock

Multiple headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Illinois were defaced with large swastikas and a reference to Kanye West on Monday, according to NBC News.

Police said that 16 headstones at Congregation Am Echod Jewish Cemetery in Waukegan, Illinois, 45 miles north of Chicago, were spray painted with “large red swastikas.”

Waukegan Police Chief Keith Zupec said in a statement that 23 other headstones "had been defaced with non-specific red spray-painted graffiti.”

At least one other headstone was vandalized with the phrase “Kanye was rite (sic),” referring to antisemitic comments mad by rapper Kanye West, WFLD reported.

Waukegan Mayor Ann B. Taylor denounced the antisemitic graffiti in a statement.

“I am deeply disturbed and angered by the hateful imagery found spray-painted on headstones this morning in Am Echod Jewish Cemetery,” Taylor said. “Hate does not have a home in Waukegan; when such incidents occur, our marginalized neighbors are victimized, and our entire community suffers.”

“I hope our officers promptly locate the perpetrators of this despicable act and hold them accountable, and I offer my full support to those directly impacted by this vandalism,” she said.

The incident is currently under investigation by police.