Officials say four people were caught on video painting racist messages at the Glen Cove Holocaust Museum Saturday night. 

Glen Cove police are asking for the public's help to find the suspects who spray-painted a racial slur and other graffiti at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center and Webb Institute.

Police say surveillance video shows the suspects entering the grounds on Crescent Beach Road at around 10 p.m. Saturday night.

They're accused of defacing numerous signs with vulgar language, including the "N" word.

Graffiti was also scrawled on a brick wall in the Children's Memorial Garden.

Officials at the center say, with a great deal of effort, the graffiti may be able to be physically removed, but the hurt and fear will remain.

Steven Markowitz, the chairman of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center, says it's shocking that a place that teaches tolerance was targeted with racist graffiti.

"The fact that they were attacking a Holocaust institution, and in particular, our Children's Memorial Garden, which is dedicated to the millions of children murdered in the Holocaust, and we view it almost like a sacred ground, and it's really, really had a big impact," he says.

Since the center opened in the early 1990s, it has fought against acts of bigotry and hate, often counseling schools and their students after racial and bias incidents.

Markowitz say the vandals need to understand the consequences of hate and intolerance.  "It's always a message to us that the purveyors of hate are out there and it's our job to try to deal with it" he says.

Markowitz adds that he's not looking for punishment for the suspects, but an opportunity to learn.

He says, "I'm not looking for anybody to go to jail or anything like that. If they're young people, I'd welcome having them at the center and make them understand the impact of what they've done."

Markowitz also says that a number of local businesses offered to help remove the graffiti.

Detectives are asking anyone with information to call the Glen Cove Police at 516-676-1002.