Montgomery County, Md. is reeling from yet another antisemitic incident. The words “Jews Not Welcome” were written on a sign just outside of Walt Whitman High School in the community of Bethesda. Police are now actively investigating the hateful message that was discovered over the weekend according to the high school’s principal — on Shabbat, and just before the first night of Hanukkah.

“This behavior is abhorrent, extremely hurtful, and will not be tolerated at Walt Whitman High School,” Principal Robert W. Dodd told the school community in a public letter.

The vandalism marks the fourth instance in the last five weeks that someone defaced a site in Montgomery County using antisemitic language or imagery. On Friday, a graffitied swastika was discovered at a bus stop bench at Westfield Montgomery mall, according to Montgomery Community Media. And in mid-November, the Bethesda Trolley Trail had been tagged with the words “No More Jews,” along with other disturbing images. A brick wall on the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Tuckerman Lane had also been soiled with an image of a swastika, reported the Walter Johnson High School Newspaper.

The string of incidents comes amid a rise in antisemitism across Montgomery County and the U.S. writ large. The Anti-Defamation League recorded the highest number of antisemitic incidents nationwide last year since the group started tracking over four decades ago. K-12 schools experienced a considerable increase in 2021, a whopping 106 percent.

The Anti-Defamation League also recorded incidents by state: Maryland reported 17% more incidents in 2021 compared to the previous year, with 55 incidents that were either categorized as harassment or vandalism. Meanwhile, D.C. reported a 23% increase (53 incidents, including two assaults) and Virginia a 6% decrease (46 incidents). The group told NPR that 2022 looks a lot like last year.

In response to the rise of hateful acts against the Jewish community — which garnered greater national attention in recent months due to Kanye West’s public praise of Hitler and Nazis — Montgomery County recently approved a resolution condemning antisemitism. Then-Council President Gabe Albornoz said 85% of religious-bias incidents last year in Montgomery County were antisemitic in nature, while the Jewish community makes up 10% of the local population. The Council received some pushback for the nonbinding resolution because of the way lawmakers defined antisemitism; while they use a fairly common definition, critics argue it conflates disapproval of the Israeli government with antisemitism.

Lawmakers for Montgomery County were quick to denounce the incident at Walt Whitman High School. “My heart is breaking. We must end the rise of Jew hatred in our community,” tweeted Montgomery County Council President Evan Glass, who is Jewish. He also said that the graffiti at the school has been removed, but “our vigilance against antisemitism and hate in all forms persists.”

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The day after the words “Jews Not Welcome” was discovered on the sign at Walt Whitman High School, locals gathered outside the school to mark the first night of Hanukkah. “We must come together to stand side by side to say hate has no place in Montgomery County,” tweeted At-Large Councilmember Will Jawando, who attended to the menorah lighting.

Rachel Barold, a 14 year old freshman at Walt Whitman, says she was not surprised but upset by the antisemitic vandalism discovered at her school. Barold says she and other students have been made fun of in school for being Jewish. “The things that Kanye West and other people in the media have been saying, especially on Twitter, has been reaching high schoolers,” says Barold.

Barold and her student group Jews4Change are calling on Walt Whitman High School and Montgomery County Public Schools to teach about the Holocaust beginning in elementary school. She says educating students about the Holocaust around the time kids begin using the internet can reduce bullying. The high school freshman says her Holocaust education came from her grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, along with her own research and information from her Jewish community.

“Right now it’s socially acceptable to be antisemitic,” Barold tells DCist/WAMU. “Once kids are shown exactly what happened during the Holocaust, it becomes less socially acceptable to make jokes about Jewish people after understanding what happened.”

A Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson says the Holocaust is covered in Grade 11, but school officials are currently creating a lesson on antisemitism during the Middle Ages in Europe for World Studies 7 course. The spokesperson did not directly respond to Jews4Change’s request for teaching the Holocaust during elementary school.

Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus G. Jones said over the weekend that his team is investigating the incident at Walt Whitman High School, but there are no suspects in custody yet. He also said police would be adding patrols around schools, places of worship, and community centers.

This post has been updated to include comment from Montgomery County Public Schools.