In just over 24 hours, an online fundraiser encouraging Muslims to donate to repair vandalism at a Jewish cemetery has raised over $100,000.

The LaunchGood.com fundraising page set up by Linda Sarsour of MPower Change and Celebrate Mercy's Tarek El-Messidi — garnered $20,000 in donations in its first three hours alone, shortly after being launched on Tuesday.

"People in a cemetery should be able to rest in peace," Sarsour said on MSNBC Wednesday, telling Andrea Mitchell that she "expected nothing less from my community, who has always been a generous community."

 

They launched the campaign after 180 gravestones were toppled, some broken, at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery just outside of St. Louis, Missouri over the weekend.

NBC affiliate KSDK reported Tuesday that police in the University City suburb are investigating the incident and examining surveillance videos. No suspects have been identified.

El-Messidi, whose Philadelphia-based organization Celebrate Mercy creates interactive webcasts and videos that teach about the Prophet Muhammad, told NBC News that about two-thirds of those donating appear to be Muslim, while the remainder are largely Jewish.

"One of the silver linings of all this divisiveness and hate rhetoric has been the two communities coming together," said El-Messidi. "Historically, we did not work together. People are putting their politics aside and working to fight bigotry together."

A request for comment sent to the Chesed Shel Emeth Society did not get an immediate response, but the Jewish Federation of St. Louis said in a statement that the restoration effort is "going to need professional help as the monuments weigh thousands of pounds."

 The federation also set up an "emergency response" fund to raise money for the cemetery repairs, and said any funds raised beyond the needs of Chesed Shel Emeth Society "will be used to support the growing security needs of the Jewish community."