A photo posted to Twitter showed the Penn State student and one of her two friends with swastikas on their shoulders. Photo: Twitter.

More than 30,000 people have signed a petition urging Penn State University to expel a student who posted a photograph on Twitter displaying a hand-drawn swastika on her shoulder.

The photo was posted on Monday and showed the student, named in the petition as Ryann Milligan, with two unidentified friends, one of whom also wore a swastika, looking over their shoulders and smiling at the camera.

Penn State authorities swiftly responded to the image and said that contact had been made with Milligan.

“The reported anti-Semitic post is deeply disturbing and sickening,” Penn State wrote on Twitter. “The [university] is contacting the individual alleged to be involved…We will continue to speak out against hatred and intolerance.”

Signatories to the petition insisted that the university needed to take tougher action against the student, who was said to be pursuing a degree in rehabilitation and human services.

“Allowing her to remain a student of Penn State is a disservice to all Jewish people, living or dead,” the petition stated. “It sends the message that antisemitic actions and ideals are accepted by the university, and that Penn State doesn’t care about protecting its Jewish students, as well as other oppressed and underrepresented minorities.”