Image by Baruch Weiner

(JTA) — The words “No Jews” was spray painted from floor to ceiling on the walls of a home for sale in Rockland County, New York.

Anti-Semitic messages also were painted throughout the home, including in the kitchen and on the floors. The graffiti was discovered in the empty home, which is for sale, by a home inspector who was checking on the structure last week for a couple that wished to purchase it.

The inspector was acting on behalf of an Orthodox Jewish couple, CBS New York reported.

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The Haverstraw Police told local media that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

The Anti-Defamation League condemned the incident. “The vandalism of a home for sale in a county with a rapidly growing Jewish community sends a deplorable message that Jews are not welcome,” ADL New York regional director Evan R. Bernstein said in a statement. “We expect that community leaders and elected officials will make clear that all are welcome in Rockland and that anti-Semitism and bigotry have no place in our communities.”

Last November, the words “No Jews” were spray-painted onto a realtor’s sign and two vacant homes some three miles away from where last week’s incident occurred.

It comes amid a surge of anti-Jewish vandalism across New York State, according to ADL. ADL’s annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents found a 50 percent increase in instances of anti-Jewish vandalism across New York State from 2015 to 2016.

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