Stickers with antisemitic symbol found on Harvard University campus

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Harvard University police are investigating after stickers with an antisemitic symbol were found on campus, police said Tuesday.

Police received a call Monday at 2:10 a.m. about a person placing the stickers at various locations on campus and on city-owned light poles in and around the Charles River area.

The stickers showed a swastika replacing the Star of David on the Israeli flag, and they were found near Harvard Hillel. The stickers also had the words, "Stop Funding Israeli Terrorism."

"I have 16 images in my inbox, and I know there are more," said Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, the executive director of Harvard Hillel. "This is not the America I grew up in. It’s not the America I know. You hear stories about this happening in Germany in the 30s or maybe in other places where antisemitism is rampant, but you don’t think of that as our reality right now."

Harvard released a statement saying that the school "has and will continue to be unequivocal that antisemitism will not be tolerated on our campus."

The campus has been in the national spotlight since Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people and Israel’s war in Gaza that has resulted in more than 41,000 deaths, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

"The saddest thing I’ll share is students really want to talk about these issues, the war, you know, the issues of human suffering," Rubenstein said. "Democracy is the thing that matters so much to students who are of different sympathies, but they have big hearts and big open minds, and they found that it’s made that much harder by messages like this."

The Anti-Defamation League released a statement saying in part: "We urge a thorough investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. Jewish students, like all students, deserve to feel safe on campus."

Police searched the area, however the person who placed the stickers was not found.

Harvard and Cambridge police are investigating and seeking any surveillance video that may have captured the incidents.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Cambridge Police Department's Criminal Investigations Unit at 617-349-9151 or online at cambridgepolice.org/TIPS.