Anti-Semitic incidents declined by an overall 2 percent last year in Florida, but anti-Semitic vandalism increased by 40 percent, according to an audit the Anti-Defamation League released Monday.

The group counted 122 incidents statewide -- five fewer than in 2007 -- of which 84 were in South Florida.

There were 47 cases of vandalism targeting Jewish institutions, homes or private property, compared to 28 in 2007, the report said, and 28 of them involved swastikas. There were 75 incidents of anti-Semitic physical or verbal assault.

''While we are pleased that the overall numbers did not increase, we are alarmed by the spike in more serious incidents involving anti-Semitic vandalism,'' Andrew Rosenkranz, the ADL's Florida regional director, said in a statement. Rosenkranz added that he viewed the findings with ``tempered optimism.''

South Florida is home to 500,000 Jews, half of whom live in Palm Beach County.

A sampling from the audit: In Sunny Isles Beach, almost a dozen mezuzas -- encased pieces of parchment with verses from the Torah -- were ripped from people's doors from May through December 2008; in Lauderdale Lakes, the word ''Jew'' was painted across the front door of a Holocaust survivor's condo in August; in Miami Beach, a man was charged with a misdemeanor for slapping his hand at an Orthodox rabbi and blurting an obscene epithet in July; and in Parkland, vandals spray-painted swastikas on a synagogue and the phrase ''stop 4 Hitler'' on a stop sign in April 2008.

Rosenkranz said the ADL is investigating three incidents from last month:

On Friday, the Broward Sheriff's Office arrested three 15-year-old boys in connection with graffiti that included swastikas at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. On May 21, Miami Beach police arrested a 49-year-old man suspected of setting a fire at Temple Moses, an Orthodox synagogue. And on May 14, Rabbi Aaron Rabin of Miami Beach's Jewish Learning Center found his home defaced with eggs and feces.

Nationally, the audit showed a 7 percent decrease in anti-Semitic incidents: 1,352 last year compared to 1,460 in 2007.

The annual audit identifies ''criminal and noncriminal acts of harassment and intimidation, including distribution of hate propaganda, threats and slurs'' and is compiled using crime statistics and additional information gathered by ADL staff.

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