Vice President Mike Pence is condemning a "vile act of vandalism" at a suburban St. Louis Jewish cemetery where more than 150 headstones were damaged earlier this week.
Pence says in a speech in Fenton, Missouri, that the vandalism along with recent threats to Jewish community centers is a "sad reminder" of the work that needs to be done to root out hate and prejudice.
The cemetery posted on Facebook that 154 headstones were vandalized in the damage discovered on Monday. Many were tipped over.
Pence says the White House condemns the act of vandalism and those who perpetrated it "in the strongest possible terms."
"There is no place in America for hatred or acts of prejudice or violence or anti-Semitism," Pence said at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Mo., in suburban St. Louis.
"The people of Missouri are inspiring the nation by your love and care for this place, for the Jewish community in Missouri — and I want to thank you for that inspiration, for showing the world what America is really all about."
As many as 200 of the cemetery's headstones were damaged and toppled over in an act of vandalism late Sunday or early Monday.
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