More than 200 headstones were spray-painted with swastikas overnight on Friday at a cemetery in Illinois, KMOV reports.
The vandalism occurred heading into Memorial Day weekend at a Glen Carbon, Ill., cemetery which houses the graves of more than 1,300 veterans, officials said.
“We haven’t seen anything of this magnitude in the 30 years that I’ve been here,” said Mark Johnson, the grounds superintendent of Sunset Hill Cemetery.
Police are investigating the vandalism, but have not identified a suspect or motive.
Officials will power wash the tombstones to remove the paint before a Memorial Day event scheduled for Monday.
“It’s all hands on deck to try to get this thing cleaned up by Monday,” Johnson told KMOV.
The owner of the cemetery said he now wants to install security cameras on the property.
Glen Carbon is about 19 miles east of St. Louis.