Anti-Semitic Tags Found in Rogers Park

West Rogers Park has the highest concentration of Jewish people in the Chicago area

A synagogue and several garages in Chicago were vandalized Sunday with anti-Semitic graffiti.

The hateful messages in West Rogers Park were reported on the Congregation Atereth Yehoshoa, on the 2900 block of West Touhy Avenue, early Sunday morning. Other messages were scrawled on garages in the 2800 block of West Fitch and West Estes avenues.

Many of the tags contained similar images: the initials "RN," the words "Rex Nation," and crude drawings of Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Star of David.

Similar messages were found a couple of miles away, on the 5800 block of North Talman Avenue, in the Arcadia Terrace neighborhood.

Alderman Debra Silverstein said a total of 30 garages were vandalized in the 20th and 24th districts, including 12 in the 50th ward.

"I take this incident very seriously," Silverstein said in a statement. "The 50th Ward has one of the most diverse populations in the City of Chicago, and we pride ourselves on peaceful coexistence and cooperation. This disgraceful incident will not be tolerated."

A Chicago police spokesperson at 5 a.m. said the department only had one report of property damage on record but NBC Chicago crews found messages scrawled on at least eight different buildings. The spokesperson was unfamiliar with the term "Rex Nation."

"Crimes of this nature are always abhorrent, yet it is particularly disturbing to witness this at a time of increased racial tension in this country and rising anti-Semitism around the globe," Amy Stoken, the director of the Chicago office of the American Jewish Committee, said in a statement.

The Anti-Defamation League also condemned the vandalism, calling it "despicable."

West Rogers Park has the highest concentration of Jewish people in the Chicago area, according to the Jewish United Fund.

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