(JTA) — A large swastika was spray-painted on the side of a car in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Boca Raton, Florida.
The incident occurred early Sunday morning, according to local report. The white swastika took up the entire driver’s-side door of the black Ford Mustang.
The owner of the car is a teenager who is visiting Israel, the Miami Herald reported. It is not know if the teen’s visit to Israel made him the intended target.
“This is a direct hate message,” Yona Lunger, an activist in South Florida’s Jewish community, told the Miami Herald. “We are shocked, devastated.”
Many Holocaust survivors live in the neighborhood, residents told local media.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation into the incident. Residents have asked the local police for increased patrols and some plan to install surveillance cameras, according to reports.
The swastika comes on the heels of several bomb threats on Jewish community centers in South Florida, part of a wave of bomb threats on JCCs across the country.
