Swastikas painted on suburban NY home sold by Jewish-owned agent

(JTA) — Swastikas and the word “hate” were spray-painted on a suburban New York home newly sold by a Jewish-owned real estate agency.

The vandalism was discovered Saturday in Clarkstown, a Rockland County town about 30 miles from New York City.

Late last month,  the words “No Jews” were spray painted from floor to ceiling on the walls of a home for sale in another town in Rockland County. An Orthodox Jewish couple had been interested in buying the house.

The Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday condemned the new vandalism and said it has reached out to Clarkstown Police Department to offer resources and assistance.

“We continue to witness hateful and anti-Semitic vandalism targeting the Jewish community in Rockland County. Enough is enough,” said Evan Bernstein, ADL’s New York Regional director, in a statement issued by the ADL. “This is yet another brazen attempt to intimidate the area’s Jewish residents. We urge Rockland County authorities and state political leadership to join those who have already stood up and condemn this series of anti-Semitic incidents.”

Rockland County Executive Ed Day condemned the unknown vandals for their attack.

“Words matter,” Day said Monday in a statement. “Acts of hate matter. Actions matter. We vow to work with law enforcement to bring these criminals to justice. And we will work with our Commission on Human Rights to show that hate has no place in Rockland County.”

Anti-Semitic graffiti was found last week on rocks at High Tor State Park, including swastikas and racial epithets.

In November 2016, the words “No Jews” were spray-painted on a realtor’s sign and two vacant homes some three miles away from where last month’s  incident occurred.

The latest incident comes amid a surge of anti-Jewish vandalism across New York state, according to ADL, whose annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents found a 50 percent rise in instances of anti-Jewish vandalism across the state in 2016 over 2015.