The California Department of Motor Vehicles apologized for an “unacceptable and disturbing” personalized license plate that the agency said contained hate speech related to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The watchdog organization StopAntisemitism published a photo on X of the license plate of a cybertruck celebrating “terrorism against the Jewish people.”

In the photo, the license plate read “LOLOCT7.” LOL is short for laugh out loud.

The monitoring organization says the sign appears to refer to October 7, when Hamas militants stormed Israel, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250. The attack triggered ongoing Israeli retaliation in the neighboring Gaza Strip.

But the car owner’s son told KABC News that the personalized license plate was not a reference to the Oct. 7 attack, but rather a reference to the owner, who is a Filipino grandfather. The LOLO on the signs means grandfather in Tagalog and CT refers to the Cybertruck, while 7 represents the owner’s seven children, according to the news station.

The organization said the vehicle was spotted at the intersection of Jefferson and Sepulveda boulevards in Culver City.

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The department apologized for not rejecting the personalized sign during the review process.

A spokesperson for the department told The Times that the license plate should not have passed the verification process, and after it was reported on social media, many people who alerted the department found it offensive.

“Using hateful language is not only a clear violation of our policies, but also a violation of our core values ​​of proudly serving the public and ensuring safe and welcoming streets,” the statement said.

According to the department spokesperson, the license plate holder will be informed about the language of their license plate and the recall of their license plate. The owner of the vehicle has the right to appeal the authority’s decision.

The department will search its license plate database to determine if configurations of this offensive language exist on other license plates and recall them, the spokesman said.

“StopAntisemitism was horrified to discover a vehicle with a license plate depicting the massacre of innocent Israelis on October 7th. glorified,” said Liora Rez, executive director of the organization.

“Thanks to the quick response of thousands of emails from our dedicated supporters, the California DMV has now recalled the license plate,” she said.

Times deputy editor Luke Money contributed to this report.