Royal Oak Synagogue​ Vandalized With Anti-Semitic​ Message​: Police

ROYAL OAK, MI — A Royal Oak synagogue was vandalized Friday with an anti-Semitic message, police said.

Officers found a swastika with the word "AZOV" spray-painted on an outside wall of the Woodward Avenue Shul, a Jewish cultural center. The word AZOV is associated to a Ukrainian militia group with Neo-Nazi leanings.

"Our entire community – Jewish and non-Jewish – must condemn these actions of hatred and intolerance," Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council Rabbi Asher Lopatin said. "Intolerance against one of us is intolerance against all of us."

Officials removed the graffiti from the cultural center within a few hours. Police were still investigating the incident and did not release any further details.

U.S. Rep Haley Stevens, who represents Royal Oak, said in a social media post that "targeted hate and antisemitism have no place in Michigan's 11th District."

"I am devastated to learn of the graffiti at the Woodward Ave Shul," Stevens wrote in the post. "To our Jewish community: you are loved, you are supported, and we will root out hate wherever it may rear its head. Thank you to the Royal Oak Police Department for your swift actions as we continue to uplift this synagogue in love."

An Anti-Defamation League report showed Michigan ranked fourth in the nation for white supremacist propaganda distribution in 2022.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the Royal Oak Police Department, Criminal Investigations Division Lieutenant Al Carter at (248) 246-3456.