Employees at a gas station in Manalapan are explaining why swastikas were painted on the floor inside the shop.

A customer called News 12 New Jersey because they were upset over seeing the symbols painted on the floor of the Gulf Station on Route 9. When News 12 went over to investigate, employees at the station said that the owner painted them and added rice on top as symbols of prosperity and goodwill for Diwali, the Indian celebration of the New Year.

For many people of Indian decent, the swastika is not a symbol of hate, but about Hinduism. Many Hindus say that the Nazi party stole the symbol from them during World War II to make it a symbol of intolerance and hate.

New Jersey Hindus say that they want the public to know that the Hindu swastika means the total opposite.