October 19, 2012

(JTA) — Unidentified vandals defaced headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Auckland, New Zealand, with swastikas, and anti-Semitic and anti-Israel graffiti.

 

More than 20 graves, all more than 125 years old, were vandalized with black spray-paint between Thursday night and Friday morning, according to the New Zeland Herald. Fourteen headstones had large black swastikas sprayed on them. Another two had anti-Israel expletives scrawled on them.

 

The cemetery has one security camera and its footage will be reviewed in the hope of catching the vandals, the website site NZCity reported.

 

Work is underway to remove the paint on the defaced headstones and the attack comes as officials have been planning tighter security at the site, according to the Herald.

 

New Zealand Jewish Council president Stephen Goodman told the Herald that there were moves to install a security fence around the cemetery, which has long been popular with vagrants.

 

“Normally these sort of attacks come after some international incident that provokes it, but I can think of nothing,” he said.

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