Up To 200 Gravestones Vandalized With Swastikas In Illinois Cemetery
(JTA) — Swastikas were spray-painted on between 150 and 200 gravestones at a cemetery in southwestern Illinois.
The vandalism at the Sunset Hill Cemetery in Glen Carbon, Illinois was discovered on Saturday morning.
Swastikas also were spray painted on the homes and garage doors of a nearby home subdivision, according to reports.
A 34-year-old man was arrested in connection with the cemetery vandalism.
The cemetery is nondenominational and there was no common denominator for the gravestones that were vandalized with swastikas.
More than 1,300 veterans are buried in the cemetery and officials rushed to have the gravestones power washed ahead of Memorial Day on Monday, when a public memorial ceremony is scheduled, CBS News reported.
Glen Carbon is located 15 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30