Police have arrested a teenager after Boston's Holocaust memorial was vandalized.
According to the Boston Police Department, a 17-year-old boy was seen shattering one of the memorial's glass panels with a rock. He was charged with willful and malicious destruction of property.
Commissioner William Evans said in a statement: "It's sad to see a young person choose to engage in such senseless and shameful behavior."
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh tweeted he was "saddened to see such a despicable action," and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren posted: "These cowardly acts of hate aren't welcome in Boston."
This is the second time this summer the memorial has been vandalized. Back in June, part of the structure was similarly shattered with a rock.
The destruction of the Jewish memorial comes during a nationwide rise in anti-Semitic incidents. The Anti-Defamation League reports an 86 percent surge in these incidents during just the first three months of 2017. The organization notes the trend started last November and said the 2016 election "featured prominently" in some incidents.
Three Jewish cemeteries were vandalized in just 12 days back in February. An estimated 290 headstones in New York, Philadelphia and Missouri were damaged.
Months after that string of vandalism — and just two days before the incident in Boston — white supremacists rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting: "Jews will not replace us."
Walsh also addressed the rally and hate groups on Monday.
He said: "Boston does not welcome you here. Boston does not want you here. Boston rejects your message. We reject racism. We reject white supremacy. We reject anti-Semitism. We reject the KKK. We reject neo-Nazis."
