Carmel, Indiana Image by Derek Jensen / Wikimedia

(JTA) — Billboards were erected in support of an Indiana synagogue that was targeted with anti-Semitic graffiti.

The billboard’s message is “LOVE” with a Star of David inside the “O.”

“We wanted to do something,” Chris Iverson, vice president and general manager of Lamar Advertising, told WISH-TV. “We just wanted to put a positive message out there. We just thought, what’s more positive than love.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Several local billboards are showing their support for a synagogue that was vandalized in Carmel. @ElizabethChoi8 has more https://t.co/0RjYoHpEGZ

— WISH-TV (@WISH_TV) August 1, 2018

Four billboards, which are also supported by Outfront Media and Fairway Outdoor Advertising, went up Tuesday along two major highways near Carmel, a suburb of Indianapolis.

Another 12 digital billboards with the same message are found throughout the state, according to the report.

A black swastika surrounded by a red background and the German and Nazi Military Iron Cross were painted Saturday morning on a wall at Shaarey Tefilla, a Conservative synagogue near Indianapolis with 200-member families.

On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence said he was “sickened and appalled” by the vandalism in his home state, where he served as a congressman for 12 years and governor for four years.

Hundreds attended a community solidarity gathering at the synagogue on Monday night.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched on Tuesday to help the synagogue clean up the damage and increase security.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount