the office belongs to elizabeth midlarsky , 77 , who has written about the holocaust and has been a repeated target of anti - semitic vitriol while working as a psychology and education professor at the university ’s teachers college in manhattan .
ms. midlarsky , who could not be reached
the incident remains under active investigation new york ( cnn ) -- three professors and a former professor at columbia university 's teachers college received hate mail this week , the new york police department said .
in 2007 , her office new york ( cnn ) the nypd has studied psychological principles in the context of the holocaust , police said .
professor elizabeth midlarsky , told cnn , " i opened the outer door and almost passed out , " when she saw the two swastikas spray - painted in red .
midlarsky found the graffiti — two swastikas alongside the derogatory term “ yid"—when she came to her office around 1 p.m. wednesday .
two swastikas and an anti - semitic slur were spray - painted wednesday on the walls of a jewish professor ’s office at columbia university , the latest in a surge of anti - semitic incidents in new york this year .
” according to the nypd , a different staff member entered the room at approximately 11:47 a.m. wednesday and did not observe anything unusual at that time .
three professors received manila envelopes tuesday with images of swastikas in them .