Anti-Semitic message left on Brighton couple's car during Passover

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - A Brighton neighborhood became the target of a hateful act of vandalism on the first day of Passover.

Melissa Brickley tells FOX 25 she couldn’t believe a call she received on Friday morning from her fiancé, Walker Hartz.

“My fiancé called me. He had driven to work and a co-worker got out of her car, went to him and said, ‘Is that your car out there?’ Someone had keyed it and he was angry,” says Brickley.

During the night a vandal etched a swastika into the back passenger side of Hartz’s car, as well as a hateful message on the front passenger side.

Brickley tells FOX 25 she was more shocked than anything, then she realized it was Passover. She says the neighborhood the couple lives in is very conservatively Jewish and she was upset that her neighbors had to walk by and see the message on their car. The vehicle was parked near Brighton's Temple B'nai Moshe.

To make matters worse, the couple’s car insurance would not cover the damage since they do not have a vandalism clause. They also say the car cannot be repaired until Monday. The message has been covered up in the meantime.

Brickley says police are taking the crime very seriously. The couple has already been contacted by three detectives.

A garage in South Boston is counteracting the hateful act with an act of kindness. They’re offering to fix the damage.

The incident was one of two reported vandalisms targeting the Jewish community this weekend. In a press release on Saturday, the Anti-Defamation League New England acknowledged another swastika scratched into a nearby delivery truck.

ADL's Regional Director Derrek L. Shulman also released a statement regarding the crimes:

"When two incidents of hate occur near a temple at the start of a major Jewish holiday, it reminds us that anti-Semitism still exists and demands that all members of our shared community confront acts of hate as attacks on everyone who values decency and respect."