Swastika
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The town of Westfield, New Jersey has again been hit with anti-Semitic vandalism.

Local police are investigating after a swastika was discovered etched into playground equipment at an area park.

The hate incident is only the latest in a series of swastikas that have been found in separate locations across Westfield, located 16 miles southwest of Manhattan, in the last two years.

According to the Tap Into Westfield news site, a resident found the 5-inch by 5-inch swastika carved into a panel of the playground equipment at Mindowaskin Park on Monday morning and alerted police.

Police notified the public works department to either remove or repair the damage. There are currently no suspects.

Dov Ben-Shimon, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, called the graffiti unacceptable.

“We had another swastika in Westfield, NJ this week,” Ben-Shimon said in a tweet. “Carved into a playground set in a public park. It’s not ok. It’s evil and unacceptable.”

Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle stated that the public works department removed the decorative piece on which the swastika was etched.

She believed that the vandalism was the work of teens previously discovered in the park after dark in violation of town regulations.

“It’s incredibly frustrating and disturbing that these continue to happen,” Brindle told the news outlet. “It’s not just kids being kids. It’s kids that are learning this from somewhere, and that is incredibly alarming to me.”

In March 2021, police discovered two swastikas in a restroom at Westfield High School.

In 2020, swastikas were discovered in Westfield public schools and in the town’s Tamaques park and Brightwood Park.

The swastika incidents have also been occurring elsewhere in Union County, where Westfield is located.

Last month, a swastika was burned into the driveway of a Union County yeshiva.

Only days earlier, in another New Jersey country, a man pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of an arsenal of weapons, including a grenade launcher, and was also allegedly found to be in possession of neo-Nazi, white supremacist and racist material, although that charge was later dropped.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)