Story highlights Pence visited Chesed Shel Emeth cemetery outside of St. Louis

"There is no place in America for hatred or acts of prejudice or violence or anti-Semitism," he said

Washington (CNN) Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday strongly condemned a recent spate of anti-Semitism before visiting a vandalized cemetery outside of St. Louis.

Alongside Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, Pence stopped by Chesed Shel Emeth cemetery in University City -- where a vandal or vandals toppled and damaged more than 100 headstones in the past week.

Pence's boss, President Donald Trump, was criticized for not speaking out sooner against anti-Semitism, but on Tuesday the President called bomb threats at 48 Jewish Community Centers in the US last month and other recent anti-Semitic incidents "horrible" and "painful."

Pence, for his part, offered an unprompted message after receiving a tour of the Fabick Cat distribution center a mere 16 miles from the cemetery.

"We condemn this vile act of vandalism and those who perpetrate it in the strongest possible terms," he said to applause, before recalling his recent visit to a concentration camp in Dachau, Germany. "We saw firsthand what happens when hatred runs rampant in a society."

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