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Several months after a series of bias crimes hit Edison and Highland Park, several swastikas were recently discovered drawn in the men's restroom of the Edison Public Library.

One large black swastika was found along with four smaller ones, said Lt. Sal Filannino of the Edison Police Department, who were notified after a library employee found the swastikas on the morning of Dec. 28.

The perpetrator committed the vandalism between Saturday, Dec. 26 at 9:30 a.m. and Monday, Dec. 28 at 2 p.m., according to Filannino. The incident is under investigation and there are currently no leads.

This incident comes after the Edison and Highland Park area was struck by a string of anti-Semitic acts of vandalism and violence this past High Holiday season.

On Oct. 9, 2009, an hour before Shabbat and Shemini Atzeret, police discovered swastikas and an anti-Semitic slur on playground equipment at Paterniti Park in Edison.

Earlier, on Sept. 28, 2009 immediately after Yom Kippur, a group of suspects spray-painted three large swastikas at the front of Congregation Beth-El.

In addition to these two acts of vandalism, on the night of Yom Kippur Sept. 27, 2009 Highland Park police arrested a 17-year-old Somerset County boy for shouting "Heil Hitler," and giving a Nazi salute from his car to three Jewish residents who were walking home from synagogue.

A week earlier, a 19-year-old Jewish man suffered an eye laceration after he was punched in the head by a 16-year-old Edison boy while walking near Edison's Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva on the second night of Rosh Hashanah. The suspect has since been charged as a juvenile for aggravated assault and bias intimidation.

Etzion Neuer, regional director of the New Jersey Region of the Anti-Defamation League, said that the recent spate of swastikas discovered throughout the area "does have us scratching our heads 'why here all of a sudden.'"

"I don't want to suggest that Middlesex County has become a hotbed of racism, but it's something that we're looking at and working with the county prosecutor's office," Neuer said.

In light of these incidents, Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg of Congregation Beth El told The Jewish State that he is calling on politicians to propose legislation that would hold parents financially responsible if their child commits an act of anti-Semitic vandalism or other bias crime. Rosenberg said that a "hefty fine" would help curb such crimes from occurring in the first place.

"It's a big mistake to say its just stupid kids," Rosenberg said. "That's a mistake, when it's the parents who are teaching such things."

Rosenberg maintains that the downturn in the economy has precipitated this anti-Semitic behavior.

"I think all this is happening because of the economy," Rosenberg said. "People are sitting at home blaming anyone they can blame and they are blaming the Jews."

Judith Mansbach, the director of the Edison Public Library, said she found it "very upsetting" when she learned of the vandalism.

"It's just absolutely appalling and disturbing," she said.

Mansbach, who is also a member of Congregation Beth El, said that occurrences such as these must be confronted rather than ignored. "You can't ignore it, you cant put your head in the sand," she said. "As Rabbi Rosenberg says, it's important that we educate young people."

Mansbach, who acknowledged that she assumed that this act of vandalism was committed by a young person or group of young people, said that she was surprised that these incidences had occurred in Edison.

"I really thought young people were becoming more educated and I thought we lived in such a diverse community that people were more tolerant of people's differences," Mansbach said.