AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Dutch police arrested a 44-year-old man who is alleged to have painted swastikas on a mosque and possibly two synagogues near Amsterdam.
The suspect, who was not named in the Dutch media, was caught Sunday painting a swastika on the mosque in Utrecht, located about 20 miles east of Amsterdam, the Hart van Nederland news site reported. He is not cooperating with police and remains in custody.
Earlier in the weekend, swastikas were discovered on the facades of two synagogues in Utrecht. Police suspect that the man also painted those symbols.
Last year, the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, reported 182 anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands, a 35% increase over the 2018 tally.
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