JERUSALEM (JTA) — Three Jewish teens were detained in the vandalism of the Beersheba War Cemetery, the burial site of hundreds of Australian World War I soldiers.
Several gravestones were toppled allegedly by the youths — aged 14, 17 and 18, according to Israel Police. Their motive for damaging the Christian cemetery is unknown.
The cemetery was established after the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade captured the southern Israeli city from Turkish troops in October 1917.
The regiment of 800 Australians, their horses having nothing to drink for 48 hours, were ordered to charge into the firing line of 4,000 entrenched and heavily armed Turks after British troops had failed to outgun them over two days.
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