Messages expressing support for Hamas and denouncing Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip were spray-painted across the University of Colorado on Friday morning, prompting a rebuke from university officials and Jewish students.

Images of some of the graffiti were posted in his replies a CU Police Department social media post addressing the incident. Police spokeswoman Nicole Mueksch said Saturday morning that officers were investigating the incident, which involved an unknown number of vandals.

A message on a sidewalk near Kittredge residents read “HAMAS IS THE RESISTANCE” and was accompanied by a downward-facing triangle.

The messages also included vulgar criticism of Israel and endorsements of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, as well as accusations that Israel has “blood on its hands” and is “committing another Holocaust” in Gaza.

Mueksch said four or five buildings were vandalized along the pedestrian walkways. She said the university saw an increase in complaints about anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents since October 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack across Israel’s southern border, and Israel responded by bombing and invading Gaza.

WITH Boulder Hillel, a Jewish student organization, he wrote in a statement on Friday that its members were “deeply disturbed by the anti-Semitic vandalism and graffiti” and that the messages were inconsistent with the values ​​of the university community.

“As anti-Semitism continues to rise at colleges and universities and across our country, there is no place at the University of Colorado for hatred or intimidation of any kind directed at Jewish students,” the organization wrote.