America’s only Anne Frank memorial has been vandalized with the Nazi insignia accompanied by the words ‘we are everywhere’.
The memorial, which is located in Boise, Idaho, features a bronze statue depicting Anne Frank peering out of the window of the secret annex of her family home where she wrote a diary while hiding from the Nazis for 761 days during the Holocaust.
The Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, which is managed by Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, is America’s only human rights memorial.
The bronze statue depicting Anne Frank was defaced with a Nazi sticker portraying the infamous insignia accompanied by the words “we are everywhere.”
The same stickers were also found on other objects at the memorial including the Spiral of Injustice and the rotating ‘Faces of Idaho’ display.
Following the hateful act, a criminal investigation has been launched. Blasting the people responsible, Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee acknowledged that the incident causes concern as he called it “absolutely reprehensible.”
“What makes this event actually so sad was the blatancy where they were placed, how they were placed and the message they were proclaiming,” Wassmuth Center for Human Rights Director Dan Prinzing said as he called the act a “stab in the heart.”
“I think what we’re seeing, we have to take seriously — such acts aren’t just random. In the sticker, they are proclaiming that they are everywhere. We have to remind people that good people are everywhere, that good exists, and now is the time for good to come together.”
Following the vandalism at the public memorial, the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights launched a fundraiser to secure the money needed to invest in a security system.
“While this defacement didn’t cause significant damage, it was the where, the how, the premeditation. We have always felt like the heart of the community, and this was a stab in the heart,” Prinzing added.
Replaced!