Anti-Israel extremists kicked off the new semester at the University of Pennsylvania on Thursday by defacing the school’s iconic Benjamin Franklin statue.

On Instagram, the anti-Semitic organization Up Against the Occupation (uPAO) claimed responsibility, arguing it serves as a “visual reminder” of Penn’s complicity in Israel’s “genocide” against Arabs.

“Penn, your hands are red. You are complicit in the Palestinian genocide,” uPAO wrote. “The Benjamin Franklin Statue stands proudly as a symbol of imperial violence and colonialism.”

“The University has tried to suppress the student intifada, suppressing Palestinian voices, all in the name of campus safety. There are no universities left in Gaza. There are no first days. The education system of Gaza has been systematically destroyed, and the genocide has only expanded.”

uPAO lost its official status on campus in April after it failed to comply with university policies that govern student organizations. Despite being prohibited from affiliating itself with Penn in any way, the anti-Israel group continued to engage in violent protests. In June, uPAO held a raucous rally while chanting, “Israelis are pigs. Pigs are haram,” and threatened Jewish students. It also staged a building takeover and endorsed a pro-Palestinian literary event featuring antisemitic musician Roger Waters.

Penn’s iconic Benjamin Franklin statue has been targeted multiple times in the past. In April, vandals scrawled “Zios get f*cked,” terminology popularized by notorious Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. During subsequent protests, demonstrators covered the monument with keffiyehs and placards glorifying Hamas “martyrs”.