Vanderbilt University officials have launched a hate crime investigation after three swastikas were found spray-painted inside a Jewish fraternity house.

The Tennessean cited a statement that Provost Susan R. Wente sent to students Monday reporting that the graffiti was found Saturday after a party at the Alpha Epsilon Pi house.

“Regardless of who is responsible and what the motivation was, the university condemns the reprehensible depiction of this symbol that since the time of Nazi Germany has come to be associated with hate, anti-Semitism, violence, death, and murder,” Wente wrote in her email. “We understand the anguish and pain that this hateful symbol causes and we stand together to condemn any effort to intimidate or send an unwelcoming message to the Jewish members of the Vanderbilt community.”

Wente urged anyone with information on the crime to contact Vanderbilt police at 615-322-2745.

(AP)