A resident of West Brighton was walking to the local temple for her daughter’s Hebrew school on Sunday morning when she encountered a swastika inscribed into the sidewalk just feet from her destination.

The symbol was scratched into the sidewalk on Forest Avenue between Hart Boulevard and Oakwood Avenue, just half a block from Temple Israel Reform Congregation.

“Fortunately my daughter wasn’t with me at that moment, so she didn’t see it, I didn’t have to explain it to her,” the resident, who wishes to be anonymous, said. “But that doesn’t mean other kids haven’t seen it.”

Since Hamas launched a terror attack against Israel on Oct. 7,New York City has experienced a spike in hate crimes. One such investigated incident was the removal of an Israeli flag from a synagogue in Willowbrook. However, despite this tension, the West Brighton resident believes this symbol is unrelated to recent events.

“It looked like it had been there a long time and had previously been covered up with cement,” the resident said. “But maybe with the snow and the salt, that covering had come up. It’s not new, it’s old cement, and it’s an old symbol, but it’s now visible.”

Upon investigation on Tuesday, the Advance/SILive.com found the symbol remained visible on the scene.

According to NYC.gov, displaying a swastika is a criminal offense punishable by New York State law.