(JTA) — Swastikas were drawn on the sidewalk of a heavily Jewish community in suburban New York.
They were discovered two blocks apart in Cedarhurst, part of a grouping of Long Island villages and hamlets known as the Five Towns bordering the Queens borough.
Children who saw the swastikas on the sidewalk on their way to school told their parents, who called police, WCBS-TV reported.
“My wife’s parents were the only survivors of a very large family from the Holocaust,” a local resident who lives in the house next to the sidewalk where a swastika was drawn told WCBS. “Even though it was a long time ago, it’s very real to us.”
Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky arrived on the scene of one of the swastikas and helped to clean it off the sidewalk, according to WCBS. The Long Beach Democrat said he believes teens from a nearby school could be responsible.
“We need to show them right away that this is serious, that we won’t stand for it, and that we need to come together as a community,” Kaminsky said.
Nassau County police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. The police reportedly are scanning surveillance video from nearby homes in an effort to identify the vandals.
In January 2015, a swastika was discovered scratched into a glass panel at the Cedarhurst Long Island Rail Road station. Another swastika was etched into the panel three days after it was replaced.
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