The mural “The Jewish Simpsons Deported to Auschwitz” before and after it was vandalized. Photo: Provided

A mural on the external wall of the Shoah Memorial in Milan, Italy, that depicts the Simpsons family as Jews being deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp was recently defaced by pro-Palestinian vandals.

The pop art mural “The Jewish Simpsons Deported to Auschwitz” was created by contemporary Italian pop artist and activist AleXsandro Palombo and debuted on Jan. 27, 2023, in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. It features Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson as Jews wearing outfits that feature a yellow Star of David badge with the word “Jude” in the center. Nazis forced Jews to wear a similar badge on their clothing during the Holocaust. Palombo’s team said the artist used contemporary figures such as the Simpsons to educate the public, especially younger generations, about the importance of remembrance and the duty to never forget the horrors of the Holocaust.

Pro-Palestinian vandals almost completely ripped off the images of Marge, Lisa and Maggie Simpson from the mural and replaced them with a message written in red paint that said “Free Pal,” which is short for “Free Palestine.” The Star of David badge on Homer’s overcoat was also torn off and the Star of David badge worn by Bart was covered in red paint.

“Little remains of the iconic work: only a grave antisemitic defacement, which has transformed a tribute to memory into an expression of hatred,” Palombo’s media relations team said on Sunday in response to the vandalism. “Today, [the] work has been brutally erased and turned into a disturbing political manifesto, steeped in antisemitism. This act is yet another stark reminder that antisemitic hatred is on the rise, even in places devoted to memory and reflection … At a time when antisemitism is surging globally, acts like this take on even greater gravity. This is not merely vandalism, but a deliberate attack on memory, culture, and the core values of human rights.”

Palombo has dedicated several murals over the years to Holocaust remembrance and antisemitism. They include depictions of Holocaust teenage diarist and victim Anne Frank wearing a concentration camp uniform and holding an Israeli flag while standing beside a Palestinian girl who burns the Hamas flag. Palombo also created a mural that depicted a boy from the Warsaw Ghetto reimagined as a hostage of Hamas terrorists.

After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel, Palombo unveiled a mural in Milan dedicated to Vlada Patapov, a young survivor of the Hamas attack at the Nova music festival. Shortly after its unveiling, the artwork was vandalized and Patapov’s head was erased.

A number of Palombo’s murals that feature Italian Holocaust survivors Liliana Segre, Sami Modiano and Edith Bruck have been repeatedly vandalized. In January, the Museum of the Shoah in Rome acquired several of Palombo’s murals that were vandalized and then restored. The artworks are part of the museum’s permanent collection and displayed in Rome’s ancient Jewish Ghetto, facing the Portico of Octavia.