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Photos: Crews remove symbols of hate from downtown Chattanooga

Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Chattanooga Public Works employee Jose Maynez puts graffiti remover on a swastika in the Bluff View Art District a day after it was discovered someone had spray painted several dozen of them in the area as well as on the Walnut Street Bridge on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020 in Chattanooga, Tenn. "I got most of them off yesterday morning" Maynez said "it's a shame, some people just have nothing better to do".
Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Chattanooga Public Works employee Jose Maynez puts graffiti remover on a swastika in the Bluff View Art District a day after it was discovered someone had spray painted several dozen of them in the area as well as on the Walnut Street Bridge on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020 in Chattanooga, Tenn. "I got most of them off yesterday morning" Maynez said "it's a shame, some people just have nothing better to do". Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Chattanooga Public Works employee Jose Maynez puts graffiti remover on a swastika in the Bluff View Art District a day after it was discovered someone had spray painted several dozen of them in the area as well as on the Walnut Street Bridge on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020 in Chattanooga, Tenn. "I got most of them off yesterday morning" Maynez said "it's a shame, some people just have nothing better to do".

Chattanooga Public Works crews began cleaning Walnut Street Bridge and portions of the Bluff View Art District Monday morning after the area was vandalized with swastikas.

Mayor Andy Berke said in a statement that the anti-semitic symbolism goes against Chattanooga’s values and makes some residents feel unsafe.

Berke, who is Jewish, said the Chattanooga Police Department is investigating the incident, and he is confident that those responsible will be held accountable.