The fence outside of a Michigan cottage owned by U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel was recently vandalized with the word “NAZIS,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday.

David Axelrod, who served with Emanuel in the Obama White House, shared a photo of the apparent antisemitic attack:

“This was scrawled on the fence outside the MI home of @RahmEmanuel⁩. It’s despicable. It’s disgusting. It’s just one more flashing red light,” Axelrod wrote regarding the incident. “Stop the hate. Stop the antisemitism and Islamophobia. We know where it leads!”

Emanuel, who was not present at the time of the act, expressed gratitude to local law enforcement for their response.

“Our family is very proud of how our friends, neighbors and the community have rallied to our support and in a singular voice in condemning hatred and bigotry,” he wrote in a text message to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Sun-Times reported:

The defacement at the Emanuel property came to light when the head of a homeowners organization in Gordon Beach, a small lakefront community in southwest Michigan, sent a message to residents Friday informing them “of an upsetting incident.”

“A hate crime occurred against one of our neighbors, where an anti-Semitic word was spray painted on a property,” board president Tom McNulty told the Gordon Beach Homeowners Association, representing a community in Union Pier, Michigan, about 70 miles from Chicago.

Emanuel visited Chicago on Sunday. He served as mayor of the city from 2011 to 2019.

David Goldenberg, who serves as the Midwest regional director for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), condemned the incident to the Chicago newspaper.

Goldenberg stated:

We are disgusted by the antisemitic vandalization of Ambassador Emanuel’s home. Hate crimes affect not only the victim, but an entire community. Thus, we appreciate the homeowners association naming this an act of antisemitism and urge law enforcement to investigate this as a hate crime.

The vandalism comes as antisemitic attacks have skyrocketed around the world following Hamas’s unprecedented terror attack on Israel, which claimed the lives of 1,200 people and wounded thousands more. In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have launched extensive military operations in Gaza with the objective of eliminating the Palestinian terror organization in the strip.