A fundraiser to help pay to repair a desecrated Jewish cemetery exceeded their fundraising goal Tuesday evening.
On Sunday, vandals damaged or tipped over as many as 200 headstones at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in suburban St. Louis.
According to The Hill, the online Muslim crowd-funding platform LaunchGood, reached it's goal of $20,000 in just three hours.
The campaign was created by Linda Sarsour and Tarek El-Messidi according to the Washington Post.
El-Messidi told the Washington Post that he was inspired to help based on a historical account of the chief prophet and central figure of the Islamist religion, Muhammad. In the story, Muhammad stood as a sign of respect when a funeral for a Jew passed by. When questioned why he stood, he replied “Is it not a human soul?”
The campaign has spread quickly on social media and by late Tuesday donations exceeded $40,000.
1500 donors & more than $40k in less than 9 hours in solidarity with our Jewish sisters and brothers. #RestInPeace https://t.co/T7IFEfEKSD pic.twitter.com/56JHLlKzXJ
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) February 22, 2017
The project will send any additional funds raised to other vandalized Jewish centers nationwide, according to LaunchGood.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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