Boston, MA, October 13, 2009…The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned the hateful vandalism, apparently targeting President Obama, discovered Monday at the Lakeville Golf Course in Lakeville, Massachusetts.

The message, carved deep into the golf green, reads "I [swastika symbol] Obama," and is approximately 8' by 10'. The Nazi symbol of the swastika has painful and threatening connotations not just for the Jewish community but for many minority groups, and for the community as a whole. The US Secret Service is now working with local law enforcement to investigate this apparent hate crime.

Derrek Shulman, ADL New England Regional Director, issued the following statement:

This brazen act of vandalism is a sad and distressing reminder of the lengths people will go to express hate. Since before President Obama's election and throughout the national debate on heath care, Holocaust imagery has been used to express hatred toward the president and disagreement with him.

It is outrageous to associate President Obama with Nazi connotations. It is completely unacceptable to connect the president with the Nazi symbol of the swastika, which has painful and threatening connotations not just for the Jewish community but for many minority groups, and for the community as a whole.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.