Penn sent officers to raid a pro-Palestinian activist house off campus. They said it was in connection with a vandalism investigation.

University of Pennsylvania police officers raided the off-campus home of several Penn community activists last week in connection to an alleged act of vandalism — a move that has deepened scrutiny into the Ivy League institution’s handling of dissent over the war in Gaza.

Around 6 a.m. on Oct. 18, residents said a dozen armed campus officers stormed their West Philadelphia home in tactical gear, corralling the pajama-clad residents at gunpoint. People who live in the house said police brought one resident, whom they did not identify, to the station for questioning and that their “personal device was seized on suspicion of vandalism.”

While no one has been charged or arrested, the group described the search as an unprecedented and “traumatic” show of force against pro-Palestinian activists on campus.

“This is a disgusting escalation from the University, and comes after a year of disciplining, arresting, and brutalizing their own students who organize for Palestinian liberation, and they made the deliberately traumatizing and threatening decision to invade our home,” the house residents said in a joint statement. The group provided written answers to The Inquirer, but declined to be individually identified as they have not been charged and feared further reprisal.

Penn police confirmed that officers executed a search warrant on Friday in connection with a vandalism incident, but did not specify details about the case or the underlying vandalism. Penn police defended the action by saying that, in the last four months, the university has experienced about a quarter million dollars in damages from vandalism, including broken glass and graffiti.

“Any legal action taken by the UPPD is based on the violation of laws in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, not the policies of the university,” said Kathleen Shields Anderson, vice president of Penn’s division of public safety.

While Penn did not elaborate on the alleged vandalism, the search warrant nonetheless marks an escalation in the school’s handling of the fallout from the war overseas. It also comes at the time when the university faces pressure to crack down on antisemitic speech as well as activity critical of Israel on campus. Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian student protests over the war continue to roil the campus and administers over what activists describe as biased and uneven treatment.

Penn police did not provide a copy of the warrant and the record has yet to be filed with the courts as of Thursday, meaning details of the investigation may remain unclear unless or until charges are filed.

A spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner confirmed that the prosecutor’s office approved the search warrant based on an ongoing investigation led by Penn police. If the search leads the university to pursue criminal charges, the district attorney “will carefully review the evidence submitted by the appropriate law enforcement authorities and make a fair and just determination,” said spokesperson Dustin Slaughter.

It was not clear where the off-campus house was located nor how many people live there. The group described themselves as “members of the Penn community,” of varying ages.

Last week, Penn police and Philadelphia police officer entered the home, awoke the residents and moved the group into the living room “at gunpoint,” the group said in a statement. The Philadelphia Police Department declined comment and deferred questions to Penn police.

Residents described the early-morning sting as “the most severe act of university repression of pro-Palestine activism since last October” as well as “a staggering show of force unheard of at any other university.” The group said it has consulted with lawyers.

Anderson maintained that throughout the execution of the warrant, officers “took care to explain to all involved what was occurring and to treat them with respect.”

As with other campuses, vandalism has been a routine flashpoint at Penn since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, with messages calling for “Ceasefire” or “Free Gaza” scrawled on campus buildings across the region. Penn has been the site of a concentrated — and controversial — series of defacements, including several incidents within the last month alone, according to the student-run Daily Pennsylvanian.

More vandalism occurred this week, including one that said “Kill Zios” and another that said, “KILL YOUR LOCAL ZIO NAZI,” the student newspaper reported Thursday.

In July, doors and windows were damaged at the Pennovation Center, which houses the company Ghost Robotics, which is involved in the production of equipment used by the military and which critics have targeted in the wake of Israel-Hamas war.

But on a large, urbanized campus, few vandalism cases result in exhaustive police investigations, let alone warrant executions.

Yalile Suriel, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota who studies higher education and the professionalization of campus police forces, said such departments only began conducting search warrants in recent decades, as universities dramatically expanded their law enforcement footprint. Many university departments now serve as supplemental extensions of the local police department — but often with less accountability.

“Unlike state institutions, where at least there is a sense of transparency and public record, private institutions and their police operate largely away from public view,” she said.

Suriel said that most high-profile raids that make the news involve narcotics on campus, though she could not recall another case like this focused solely on vandalism.

Public outcry over the raid has grown in recent days — with some describing the raid as a gratuitous show of force considering the nature of the alleged crime.

State Rep. Rick Krajewski, who represents parts of West Philadelphia, called it “completely unacceptable and disturbing that a dozen officers armed with tactical gear and assault rifles threatened the safety of unarmed young people who are not only students, but our neighbors.”

Staff writer Ryan W. Briggs contributed to this article.