KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — Unidentified vandals threw seven cans of brown paint at the walls and windows of a synagogue in a central Ukrainian town.
No one was hurt in the June 10 incident in the industrial town of Kremenchug. One of the synagogue’s windows was shattered in the attack.
Four adults ran off after the nighttime incident, according to a security guard.
Local police said the building of an advertising agency that in an ad campaign used the controversial slang term “Hohol” for “Ukrainian," which the majority of Ukrainians consider offensive, also was vandalized with brown paint.
Law enforcement agencies are investigating; no arrests have been reported.
“This is not first act of vandalism in central Ukraine," Eduard Dolinsky, director general of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, told JTA. "We believe that law enforcement agencies will investigate the case properly and find those guilty. We must do everything possible to prevent acts of vandalism and anti-Semitism, especially during the presidential elections campaign.”
According to Kremenchug’s mayor, street lights near the synagogue have been repaired to help prevent future vandalism attempts.
Kremenchug is one of the leading industrial centers in Ukraine with a population about 232,000.
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