Blackjack Mountain in Cobb County, Georgia. Photo Credit: Wikimedia

The Cobb County School Board in Marietta, Georgia confirmed that it is investigating the daubing of antisemitic graffiti on a bathroom wall of Alan C. Pope High School.

On Thursday, several students, who have since been identified and interviewed by school officials, graffitied “Hail Hitler” and two swastikas on a quadrant of wall tiles above a row of urinals.

Speaking to CNN, a Cobb County District spokesman called the vandalism “unacceptable” and said, “The principal has engaged with community groups who have been affected by this student behavior, and all applicable District policy and law will be applied.”

A statement by the Alan C. Pope High School Parents Teachers Students Association (PTSA) urged parents not to write off what happened as a “teenage prank” and see its link to a viral trend encouraging students to destroy and deface school property.

“Many will call these teenage pranks, but these are hate crimes — and destroying property and stealing from your school is a felony,” PTSA said.

“On the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, I can’t believe THIS is what we are discussing, but last night our students came home talking about destruction of property at our school thanks to a Tik Tok trend that has infiltrated Pope, but also we saw very disturbing pictures of swastikas and messages of hate painted on the walls.”

Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Temple Kol Emeth told KIMT 3 News that he learned what happened from a parent in his congregation.

“Students and parents were rightfully scared and concerned about what was happening,” he said. “There were many families who reached out with other similar stories, not just at Pope High School but throughout the district.”

“We’ve gotten incredible support from around the area, from faith communities, from churches, from the Islamic Speaker Bureau, from all over saying that, ‘We stand with you.'”

Rabbi Sernovitz said he and six other rabbis are working together to address the concerns of Jews in Cobb County.

On Monday, the Cobb County School District announced that it rescheduled its board meeting on September 16 in recognition of Yom Kippur’s “vital importance to our Jewish community members.”

Said CCSD, “We stand with all of our stakeholders, including our valued religious organizations and Jewish families, which is why we have decided to postpone the September board meeting.”