(JNS) The U.S. State Department began investigating who was behind the etching of a swastika on a wood panel in one of the department’s elevators on Monday, July 26.

According to Axios, which first reported the incident, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a trip to India and Kuwait, sent an email to staff at the department on Tuesday saying that the swastika was removed and an investigation had commenced.

“As this painfully reminds us, antisemitism isn’t a relic of the past. It’s still a force in the world, including close to home. And it’s abhorrent,” wrote Blinken. “It has no place in the United States, at the State Department or anywhere else. And we must be relentless in standing up and rejecting it.”

The elevator is near the office of the yet-to-be-nominated ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat antisemitism, which the administration recently promised Jewish groups will happen within weeks.

The State Department is accessible only by employees and contractors with security clearances; it is protected by security guards and cameras.