A Brighton man driving to work on Good Friday and the first day of Passover couldn't figure out why other commuters were honking at him. He assumed it was his bad driving until he arrived at work and one of his colleagues asked if he knew his car had been keyed. Worse yet, he was asked, did he know what had been scratched on the side of his new car? A swastika with the epitaph, ---- you, had been keyed overnight on the passenger side doors of his Honda CRV.

A Brighton man driving to work on Good Friday and the first day of Passover couldn't figure out why other commuters were honking at him.

He assumed it was his bad driving until he arrived at work and one of his colleagues asked if he knew his car had been keyed. Worse yet, he was asked, did he know what had been scratched on the side of his new car? A swastika with the epitaph, ---- you, had been keyed overnight on the passenger side doors of his Honda CRV.

He and his fiancee, Melissa Brickley, said they are horrified and embarrassed. The car had been parked several blocks away in front of Moogy's, a bar and restaurant, but in their neighborhood, a strong Jewish community with the synagogue,Temple B'nai Moshe, just steps from their apartment building. Brickley said she particularly angry that this happened on the first day of Passover.

"Conservative Jewish families live here, walk through these streets on their way to synagogue daily," said Brickley. "I have never seen anything like this before today."

Meanwhile, Vladamir Foygelman, vice president of Temple B'nai Moshe, said he would like to say he was surprised, but he was not. He said a Jewish banner was ripped from the side of their temple several months ago. Then two weeks ago, a lamp post next to the front door was vandalized and knocked down. Foygelman said he hoped all of this was the result of stupidity and simple vandalism by people who simply don't understand history and the impact these actions have on the larger community.

Hartz and Brickley's neighbors expressed shock and disbelieve when they saw the swastika and epitaph on the side of the car. They also said they had never seen any signs of racism, anti-Semitism or hatred in their community of college students and families.

Brickley and Hartz said they consider this a hate crime and were going to file a police report.