MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are investigating after several swastikas were found drawn on a mailbox in front of a Miami Beach home.
7News cameras captured Miami Beach Police officers working to erase the symbols at the home along Pine Tree Drive, Thursday.
Neighbors said the family who lives at the home had recently moved in, and the finding has left residents like Melinda Marcuse unsettled.
“On my block! This is not right,” she said. “I am profoundly disturbed about the insurgence of anti-Semitism. I am horrified and shaken to the bone.”
Those inside the home were too shaken to be interviewed but said off camera, the Nazi symbol was drawn several times in gold marker and discovered after 5 p.m.
The vandalized home is located around the corner from Hebrew Academy’s properties. Its school and synagogue are in a predominately Jewish community.
Police said the vandals walked up to the mailbox and drew their hateful message. However, this is not the first time this year that the area has seen this kind of antisemitism.
7News cameras captured officers taking down signs with similar vandalism on Collins Avenue and 18th Street in July.
More markings were found etched on the wall at a Burger King near 41st Street and Jefferson Avenue in March.
A home on West 35th Street in February was also marked up with the hateful symbol. The markings were found on a permit box and on children’s furniture during a renovation.
The symbols found Thursday are under investigation by Miami Beach Police’s Intelligence Unit.
Marcuse added that she has not had a chance to meet her new neighbors.
“I am a daughter of a survivor. My dad survived,” Marcuse said. “This neighbor here had a tattoo from Auschwitz. She used to come and pick my mangoes.”
If you have any information on who vandalized the mailbox with hate symbols, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
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