Apartment complex housing students vandalized with swastikas in Florida
Published April 30, 2014
(JTA) — An apartment complex near the University of Central Florida in Orlando that is home to several Jewish students was vandalized with swastikas.
The nearly one dozen swastikas were carved into the walls of the hallway where the Jewish students live at the University House Apartments, located several blocks from campus, according to local news reports.
The apartments are not affiliated with the university, but the university released a statement condemning the act. ”The anti-Semitic vandalism that took place at an off campus apartment building is reprehensible,” read the statement.
The swastikas were discovered on Saturday. Some students told local media they believe the attack was planned to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“It’s not like it was a little doodle by a kid. It was like someone keyed it onto the wall, circled it knowing there are Jewish students living here and on campus,” student Melissa Sherman told WFTV. “We don’t think the timing was on accident because it was Holocaust Remembrance Day Sunday night and she discovered it on Saturday.”
A mezuzah was ripped off the doorpost of an apartment in the same building earlier this month, and the scroll inside stolen.
The apartment complex immediately painted over the swastikas. It released a statement to residents reiterating its concern over the incidents and said that in addition to roving patrols and security cameras being added to the property “additional measures are being taken.”
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