Worshippers arriving for morning services Wednesday discovered three swastikas spray-painted on a building at the headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch of Parkland, Fla. The German word heil, apparently a reference to the Nazi salute, appeared beneath one of the symbols.

The anti-Semitic vandalism comes just eight days after a Chabad House in Miami Beach, just 50 miles away, was found torched in an apparent arson.

"People are obviously shocked," reported Rabbi Yossi Goldblatt, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Deerfield Beach, whose offices are in the Parkland location. "They don't expect it anywhere, but certainly not in an area like Parkland, which is very friendly and suburban.

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"Everyone knows everyone," he continued, "so people are very disturbed and outraged."

As news crews swarmed outside of the complex, which overlooks a canal, investigators with the Broward County Sheriff's Office focused on combing the surrounding area and dusting the building, which houses a Hebrew school for some 103 students, for fingerprints. Art Santucci, executive director of external affairs for the sheriff's office, said that chief on everyone's minds is the destruction of the Miami Beach synagogue last week.

"I'm sure that the two investigations will dovetail at some point," said Santucci. "We have excellent interagency cooperation."

He added that as far as his department could tell, nothing of this sort had ever occurred in Parkland before.

"They are combing every inch around this crime scene for miles," said Santucci. "They're doing a very thorough job."

Goldblatt said that he and some 15 other men made the discovery at about 7:15 in the morning. They immediately called police.

For his part, the sheriff told the media Wednesday afternoon that the community took the vandalism personally, saying, "People of faith are the pillar of our community."

Parkland vice mayor Jared Moskowitz similarly displayed some anger.

"Racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism unfortunately still runs rampant in communities across this country," he said, speaking by telephone from his law office. "However, I don't think any more attention should be paid to such moronic behavior."