A Jewish family in Stoneham, Massachusetts, found multiple swastikas made of paper left in front of their home Tuesday morning, which police are investigating as a possible hate crime.
There were hateful antisemitic messages left on the lawn as well, a melted candle and the words "go to hell." The incident comes amid a rise of antisemitism and other acts of hate statewide and around the country.
"I think it's atrocious," said neighbor Caryl Newitt. "I would hope it's just a bunch of kids fooling around on Halloween, I hope it's that."
The family that was targeted posted about the incident on Facebook, writing, "Words cannot express how it felt waking up and finding this on my front stairs."
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They told NBC10 Boston they are very disturbed by what happened and haven't had any issues in the past.
Stoneham Police Chief James McIntyre confirmed the hate investigation.
"This is a terrible incident. It should not happen to any family," he said.
Peggy Shukur from the Anti-Defamation League says the incident should be investigated as a hate crime, and that antisemitic incidents were up nearly 50% in Massachusetts in the latest round of data.
"It should be a wake-up call to communities and to caring people everywhere," Shukur said.
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Stoneham's state representative, Michael Day, spoke with the family after hearing about the incident.
He said it was "obviously a disgraceful, horrific incident for our community and a pretty sad commentary, I think, on where we are as a society right now."
Investigators are canvassing the neighborhood to see if any surveillance video may have captured the crime taking place.
Hate speech, including antisemitism, has been roiling the worlds of entertainment and sports lately, with the music and fashion mogul formerly known as Kanye West and Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving drawing widespread opprobrium for antisemitic comments.
