(JTA) – A Jewish cemetery and a Muslim cemetery in the same Austrian town were desecrated with racist slogans and Nazi swastikas.
The vandalism on several headstones at the cemeteries in Hohenems, located in western Austria near the border with Switzerland, occurred on Sunday, according to a report Monday on the news website vol.at. Police have no suspects.
Police linked the incidents to xenophobic graffiti that appeared on eight buildings in Hohenems earlier this month. Some of the symbols were drawn on a center for refugees from the Middle East.
Meanwhile, several memorial cobblestones – metal blocks installed in front of the former residences of Jewish Holocaust victims – were removed from the former Jewish Quarter of Hohenems, the news website reported.
According to the Jewish Museum of Hohenems, the Alpine town’s Jewish community had existed for over three centuries until its destruction by the Nazis.
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