Haddonfield community helps remove hateful graffiti near cemetery
On Friday, officials say swastikas were found spray-painted on trees.
HADDONFIELD, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Residents in Haddonfield, New Jersey gathered to stand up against hate.
On Friday, officials said swastikas were found spray-painted on trees near a Quaker cemetery.
"We cannot and should not be silent. It is a sad fact that hate crimes of all kinds, especially incidents involving antisemitic hate, have been on the rise in recent years across our country, including locally," said Dave Austin with Haddonfield Friends Meeting.
"I am disgusted by the swastikas and grateful to our Haddonfield Police Department and Department of Public Works for responding, reporting, and working to clean up these signs. Hate and bigotry have no home in Haddonfield, whether antisemitism or any other type," added Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich.
On Sunday, community members covered up the hateful messages and planted a sapling that came from a historic 600-year-old Salem Oak tree.
Anyone with information on the vandalism is asked to call the Haddonfield Police Department.
