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Student Snapchats photo with offensive messages of teacher at Ida Baker High School in Cape Coral

Posted at 10:42 PM, May 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-16 09:16:40-04

A student at Ida Baker High School in Cape Coral posted a photo to Snapchat of one of the teachers with a hateful and offensive message.

The post was sent to other students and has since been screen-shot and posted to other social media sites.

The photo shows the teacher with a scribbled on mustache, a doodled swastika, and the caption "all hail Hitler" with laughing emojis.

"They have a right to be offended," Ida Baker student Jordan Martinez said.

One student shared the photo on Facebook with her own caption, reading in part: "Who ever made this is messed up. This isn't funny. He doesn't deserve this."

This is the second offensive message found at a school in the last week. Lee County deputies are searching for the person responsible for graffiti on the sign at Bonita Springs Middle School. It reads "white power" next to a swastika.

Corporal Phil Mullen at the Cape Coral Police Department said the graffiti at Bonita Springs Middle School is a case of criminal mischief, and doesn't constitute a hate crime because it doesn't target a specific victim in a protected class based on race, religion, or sexual orientation.

"It's a crime against the county or whoever it is that owns the school building, not a protected class of persons/ That's why that probably would not be a hate crime," Cpl. Mullen said.

As for the photo of the teacher on Snapchat, Mullen said it isn't a crime, but could be a civil lawsuit if the teacher in the photo wanted to pursue it.

"I don't think it's any hate. I think it was just a joke, and they were messing with him and trying to get a laugh," Martinez said.

The Lee County School District said it is aware of the Snapchat photo but has not determined who posted it.