Someone put up a Nazi flag at a Michigan elementary school

Police in Battle Creek, Michigan, are investigating after a Nazi flag was found flying at an elementary school.

The flag was discovered Saturday when construction workers arrived at Riverside Elementary School and noticed that the American flag in front of the school had been replaced by a Nazi banner.

Sometime during the night, school officials say, someone broke the lock on the flagpole and swapped them.

“It is disturbing that an individual would use school grounds as a platform to promote such beliefs,” Lakeview School District Superintendent Blake Prewitt said in a statement obtained by CNN. “Our story as a district is so much more than this.”

The Battle Creek Police Department was notified about the incident on Monday.

When authorities received the flag, Police Chief Jim Blocker said, it had already been handled by a number of people. The school, because it was under construction, did not have working video surveillance equipment at the time.

The chief said he knows it’s going to be hard to prove that a person or group did it, but the entire department is committed to finding who is responsible.

“It’s enough to deserve our attention and to send a message that it’s not appreciated and we’ll actively go after you,” Blocker told CNN by phone.

Authorities say they’re giving the case extra attention to send a message: Hate has no home here.