Bloomberg campaign blames Sanders' rhetoric after vandalism at Knoxville office

close

Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for Feb. 21

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Mike Bloomberg’s campaign said Friday its campaign office in Knoxville, Tenn., was vandalized overnight with graffiti – and suggested rival Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ rhetoric could be to blame.

The campaign acknowledged it doesn’t who vandalized the office but raised the possibility of it being connected to Sanders supporters. Bloomberg's team provided a photo that shows the spray-painted words “F—k Bloomberg” and “oligarch” on the outside of the building.

BERNIE SANDERS: 5 THINGS TO KNOW

"This latest incident at our Knoxville campaign office is exactly what we've been warning about,” Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said in a statement. “We don't know who is responsible for this vandalism, but we do know it echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters.”

Mike Bloomberg’s campaign said Friday its campaign office in Knoxville, Tenn., was vandalized overnight with graffiti. (Released by Bloomberg campaign).

Sheekey called on Sanders to “immediately condemn these attacks and for his campaign to end the Trump-like rhetoric that is clearly encouraging his supporters to engage in behavior that has no place in our politics."

The Sanders campaign declined to comment.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: 5 THINGS TO KNOW

Bloomberg’s campaign argued the graffiti in Knoxville is the latest in a pattern of vandalism it has seen across the country. It referenced recent incidents in Toledo, Ohio; Youngstown, Ohio; and Ann Arbor, Mich.

"Over the past week, we've seen similar attacks against Mike Bloomberg 2020 offices in multiple states,” Sheekey said. “Fortunately, no one has been injured. But this needs to end before someone gets hurt.”

Fox News' Andrew Craft contributed to this report.