A Jewish couple in Lafayette reported that someone has carved a swastika into the front door of their apartment twice since Tuesday, prompting at least two visits from Lafayette police.

“It’s scary,” Will Rosenbaum said. “You come home from work to relax and find this symbol of hate and it’s directed at you.”

Rosenbaum and his wife, Emma, have lived in Colorado for about a year after moving from New York City, where they lived in a predominately orthodox Jewish neighborhood. He said that swastikas would show up in the neighborhood walls, but Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s incidents are the first time something like this has been directed at him and his family.

Lafayette police Cmdr. Brian Rosipajla said that someone carved a 2 ½-inch swastika into the door at the apartment located on the 400 block of Strathmore Lane on Tuesday between 2:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

“It appeared someone used a knife or something sharp,” Rosipajla said. “Officers had maintenance crews paint over the door.”

He said police don’t have any suspects.

The Rosenbaums were speaking to Lafayette police again on Wednesday afternoon after someone returned to their home sometime in the late morning or early afternoon and carved another swastika on the door. It has since been painted over.

Rosenbaum said they keep a mezuzah affixed to the front door and last year they temporarily flew a Israeli flag on the door, which he took down after a swastika turned up on a neighbor’s car. It turned out in that case that an Indian family had put the symbol — which turns up in numerous cultures — on the car themselves after getting into a car crash.

“They were ‘de-hexing’ the car,” he said.

The Rosenbaums don’t know why the person or people carved the Nazi symbol into the door, but it is unsettling, particularly since they moved to Colorado from New York because it’s quieter and less congested.

“It’s an unthinkable act,” Emma Rosenbaum said. “People should feel comfortable to express their beliefs and how they feel in this day and age. It’s just sad.”

John Bear: 303-473-1355, bearj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/johnbearwithme