Swastika mowed into Metro East lawn as antisemitic attacks, other hate crimes rise

ALHAMBRA, Ill. (First Alert 4) - A swastika mowed into the grass of a residential lawn in the small village of Alhambra is now at the center of an investigation and drawing concern from advocates across the St. Louis region.

“I’m dumbstruck, really,” said resident Jordan Payne.

Payne has lived in the quiet Metro East community since 1987. Over the weekend, while out for a walk, he noticed the large Nazi symbol mowed into a neighbor’s yard.

“Very surprised to see Nazi insignia carved into the lawn with a mower,” Payne said. “ Nothing like that ever happens in this community.”

“To see something like this greatly concerns me,” Payne told First Alert 4. “It’s a slap in the face. A scar on our village.”

The lawn belongs to property owned by Mike Eaton, who helps run a local construction business. Eaton denies any involvement in the act and is upset that some in the community have blamed him. He told First Alert 4 in a phone call that he mowed the lawn promptly after learning of the symbol on Tuesday.

Eaton is not Jewish.

Grand Fork police and the Alhambra city attorney are now investigating how the symbol appeared and whether the act qualifies as a hate crime.

Helen Turner, Director of Education for the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum in Creve Coeur, said similar incidents are becoming more common.

“I always say ‘history doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes,’” Turner said.

This week, a man injured at least 12 people in an antisemitic attack using a flamethrower in Boulder, Colorado.

Last month, two staff from the Israeli Embassy were killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.

“It typically begins with words, but it very quickly escalates into violence. The only counter to that is for our society to say, ‘these actions have no place here. We will prosecute. We will condemn. We will not allow this kind of violence against any group,’” Turner said.

Turner said the museum has always operated with heightened security, not in response to recent headlines, but because they expect to be a target.

“This is not a new thing we put into place in response to anything,” he said. “When the museum was built, we knew that we would need heightened security.”

The swastika incident comes as Pride Month begins, and as anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and threats increase across the country.

“We’ve been down this road before,” said Jordan Braxton, a Pride St. Louis organizer.

Braxton said LGBTQ+ people, particularly of the trans community, have become increasingly vulnerable.

“The target has been put on our back this year—especially our trans community,” she said. “People will say whatever they want to and have no remorse.”

A new report from GLAAD documented 932 incidents targeting LGBTQ+ people between May 2024 and May 2025. That’s down from last year’s 1,173, but still marks an 80% increase from the group’s inaugural report in 2023.

“That’s why pride isn’t just a celebration but a protest,” Braxton said. “We are protesting to keep our rights that we fought decades to have.”

Back in Alhambra, Payne says the symbol on the lawn does not reflect the town he knows.

“This isn’t who we are,” Payne said.

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