Sunday began uneventful for Mill Creek City Council candidate Ed McNichol.

He left his house around 10 a.m. to do some campaigning in the Parkside Neighborhood, where his typical Sunday routine was interrupted by a sickening image spray painted on someone’s house.

“There was a giant swastika painted on the garage door,” McNichol said. “I rang the family’s doorbell a couple times to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

When no one came to the door, McNichol called the police.

It’s the third time in less than a month that anti Semitic graffiti has shown up in Mill Creek.

A Jewish family was targeted twice last month in the days leading up to Yom Kippur, the day of fasting and atonement.

In both cases, swastikas and anti Semitic statements were spray painted on the family’s vehicles.

The latest incident, which likely occurred late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning, appears to be a random act of vandalism.

The victims, who police are not identifying for safety and privacy reasons, are not Jewish.

“It’s as distasteful and disrespectful as the earlier incidents, but it’s not as worrisome in the fact that the victims weren’t specifically chosen,” Mill Creek Police Chief Bob Crannell said. “I think we have a case of some dumb kids who heard about the other incidents on the news and figured they might get their graffiti on the front page of the newspaper.”

Whether carefully planned or not, the latest example of anti Semitism has shaken residents.

“There’s no excuse for this kind of behavior,” McNichol said. “Something needs to be done now to show the people committing theses crimes that Mill Creek won’t tolerate this hateful speech.”

Officers investigating the earlier incidents have identified a person of interest, but are not comfortable identifying the man as a suspect at this time.

“I think it’s very troubling to see this kind of thing in our community,” Crannell said. “We are seeing a lot of graffiti and tagging going on right now and this latest incident seems to fall into that category.”

The incidents last month were far more threatening and violent in nature.

“We are most concerned for the safety of that family,” Crannell said. “They were obviously targeted because they are Jewish.”