Alpha Epsilon Pi house is in the final stages of building its fraternity house on 14 Fraternity Row. A fraternity member found the swastika last week, and the incident was reported Sunday to the UF Police Department.

Fraternity member Alex Mehler said the fraternity is a visible Jewish presence at UF. He said the incident was “a blatant act of anti-Semitism.”

“A lot of us are very distraught,” he said.

Alpha Epsilon Pi is a Jewish fraternity with 140 chapters in the United States and Canada. The UF chapter has been working on building a fraternity house over the past three years and plans to move into the house in the fall, Mehler said.

He said a member first noticed the swastika April 2 but it wasn’t clear when it was painted. A window had been broken a month earlier and hadn’t been reported to police.

University Police Capt. Jeff Holcomb the swastika incident is being investigated as criminal mischief, a second-degree misdemeanor, but might be bumped up to a hate crime. The latter charge is a first-degree misdemeanor and would carry a more serious possible punishment if someone is caught.

Holcomb said there have been no other recent reports of swastikas being painted on campus.

“It seems to be an isolated incident,” he said.

The Anti-Defamation League found that 10 percent of all anti-Semitic incidents in Florida occurred on college campuses in 2007, the most recent year in which the information was tracked. The incidents, directed at students and teachers, included graffiti, slurs and threats.

Andrew Rosenkranz, Florida regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, issued a statement condemning the UF incident.

“It’s disheartening to see that a fraternity was tarnished with anti-Semitic hate and the negative impact it will have not only upon its Jewish members, but the entire University of Florida campus,” he said.

Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 338-3176 or nathan.crabbe@gvillesun.com.