Swastikas scrawled on Union Station in Washington

A hand-drawn swastika is seen on the entrance of Union Station close to the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Vandals scrawled swastikas on the skin of Union Station, the central hub for regional prepare transportation within the nation’s capital.

The graffiti was found Friday, sooner or later after Worldwide Holocaust Remembrance Day, with crude Nazi symbols marked on columns throughout the entrance of the huge constructing and several other clustered across the escalator entrance to the underground D.C. Metro.

Metropolitan Police Division Chief Robert Contee stated the investigation can be led by the Amtrak Police, who deal with safety for the constructing. However Contee indicated that investigators have been a number of the a number of individuals experiencing homelessness who ceaselessly camp across the constructing.

“It seems it could be one in every of our unhoused residents who did this, primarily based on some data that has been revealed,” Contee stated. “The one who did this ... may very properly have some psychological well being challenges.”

A safety guard on the scene identified that a number of of the swastikas have been in spots that have been in full view of the constructing’s safety video cameras.

Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods stated an investigation is underway. “Amtrak strongly condemns this act of hate and can work with our landlord, USRC and their lessor to take away these symbols as rapidly as potential,” Woods stated in a press release.

By noon, workers had begun to cowl the swastikas with sheets of white paper secured by blue tape.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser referred to as the incident “each surprising and unsettling.”

“This antisemitic and hateful image has no place in our metropolis, and we stand united with the members of our Jewish neighborhood in opposition to antisemitism in all its types,” she stated.

Bowser stated Union Station had a workforce of specialists working to take away the graffiti.

The Jewish Federation of Higher Washington posted a press release on Instagram, calling the timing “significantly offensive” and added, “This anti-semitic and hateful image has no place in our society.”

It's unclear whether or not the connection to Worldwide Holocaust Remembrance Day was intentional. Contee stated his division had been in contact with native Jewish neighborhood leaders.