Swastika found etched on playground equipment at Chicago area elementary school
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A west suburban elementary school district is asking police to provide extra patrols after finding a swastika etched onto a piece of playground equipment overnight.
Downers Grove Grade School District 58 Superintendent Kevin Russell sent parents a letter confirming a swastika was found on the playground early Tuesday at Lester Elementary School, calling the incident "deeply disturbing."
Russell said the swastika was reported to Downers Grove Police and has since been removed.
"We have no evidence that this symbol was made by a Lester student. Further, we do not believe that any Lester student saw the symbol. This likely occurred after school when the students had left for the evening. We became aware of the incident early in the morning by an adult prior to any student playing on the equipment," he wrote. "We extend our support to the students, teachers and staff at Lester and to the wider school and Downers Grove community. The swastika serves as the most notorious symbol of hate and antisemitism and has no place in our community."
The incident comes amid a rise in anti-Muslim and antisemitic hate crimes in Illinois in the wake of a Hamas attack on Israel earlier this month, and Israel's retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday said hate crimes against Arabs, Muslims, and Jews have increased in Illinois in the wake of the war.
"Hate has no home here in Illinois. It's a phrase I've used time and time again, but hate always has an insidious way of trying to move in," Pritzker said.
Multiple threats in southwest suburban Bridgeview last week left residents on edge and forced the closure of an all-girls Islamic day school on Friday.
A little more than a week ago, a 6-year-old Palestinian boy was stabbed to death and his mother was seriously wounded in Plainfield. Their landlord was arrested on murder and hate crime charges, accused of targeting them because of their ethnicity and Muslim faith.
