Antisemitic graffiti has been daubed on a tram, leaving transport bosses searching for the culprit.

Swastikas and the word “Nazi” were drawn onto a seat in Manchester.

The vehicle was taken out of service after a passenger spotted the graffiti during a journey to the city centre earlier this week.

Tram operator Metrolink confirmed the driver had acted immediately to remove the antisemitic imagery after being alerted to it.

A Metrolink spokeswoman told the Manchester Evening News: “This type of mindless, offensive vandalism will not be tolerated on Metrolink and we will look to find the individuals who are responsible for this through our Travelsafe Unit, a partnership with Greater Manchester Police which aims to reduce crime and combat anti-social behaviour on public transport.

“It’s extremely frustrating and disappointing to see such behaviour take place as ultimately it’s our customers that suffer at the hands of this reckless minority.

“Fortunately in this instance, we were able to minimise the impact on customers by taking the vehicle out of service immediately and replacing it with another.

“We train our employees to be extremely vigilant when it comes to spotting this sort of vandalism in order to go back and review CCTV on trams and at stops.

“We’d urge any customers who witness such anti-social behaviour to inform a Metrolink member of staff, call into our customer services team 0161 205 2000 or tweet us via @MCRMetrolink.”