Vandal places swastika stickers on Harvard University's campus: 'Antisemitism will not be tolerated'

Swastika stickers have been found on Harvard University’s campus, according to police who are investigating another antisemitic incident at the Cambridge school.

Both Harvard University and Cambridge Police are trying to track down the antisemitic vandal after multiple stickers depicting a swastika replacing the Star of David on the Israeli flag were placed on campus and on city-owned light poles around Harvard Square.

The sticker with the blue swastika also included the phrase, “Stop Funding Israeli Terrorism.”

Antisemitic incidents have been reported at Harvard — and college campuses across the country — since last year’s Hamas terrorist attack and the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The antisemitic vandal reportedly placed the stickers on campus near the Charles River area on Monday at around 2:10 a.m.

“HUPD officers searched the area for the unidentified individual but were unable to locate them,” a Harvard University Police spokesperson said in a statement. “The stickers contained an anti-Semitic symbol. HUPD and Cambridge Police are investigating this matter collaboratively.”

Police are looking for any surveillance video to help with the investigation.

“The Cambridge Police Department responded to the Harvard Square area Monday morning for reports of religiously threatening stickers posted in multiple locations around the Square,” a Cambridge Police spokesperson said in a statement.

This incident comes a week after the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. Last week, anti-Israel protesters reportedly vandalized the John Harvard statue and smashed windows at the Cambridge university.

“Harvard has and will continue to be unequivocal that antisemitism will not be tolerated on our campus,” a Harvard University spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The Anti-Defamation League on the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7 reported that antisemitic incidents have spiked across the U.S. in the last year.

“We are aware that law enforcement is investigating apparent #antisemitic vandalism @Harvard – multiple stickers depicting a swastika replacing the Star of David on the Israeli flag,” ADL New England posted. “We urge a thorough investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. Jewish students, like all students, deserve to feel safe on campus.”

The Cambridge Police spokesperson said the department is “committed to safeguarding the state and federal civil rights of all individuals irrespective of their race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or gender, and to aggressively investigate any reported acts or threats of violence, property damage, harassment, intimidation, or other crimes that appear motivated by bias against or hatred of a particular group.”

Police are urging anyone with information about the vandalism to contact the Cambridge Police Criminal Investigations Unit anonymously through its tip line at 617-349-9151, or online at cambridgepolice.org/TIPS.