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Dozens of graves vandalised in Denmark Jewish cemetery

Up to 80 headstones were daubed in green paint while others were overturned, police say

November 11, 2019 14:18
The headstones were daubed with green paint
1 min read

Dozens of graves at a 200-year-old Jewish cemetery in Denmark were desecrated with graffiti over the weekend.

Police in Randers said some headstones had been overturned and that no words or symbols were discernible on those that had been daubed.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was “both an attack against Danish Jews and against all of us”.

Up to 80 graves were reported to have been targeted by the vandals.

The incident was reported on Saturday.

"Our Jewish citizens must be respected and not live in fear," she added, according to TheLocak.dk website.

A police spokesman said: “There are no symbols or words written on the gravestones but paint has been daubed on them.”

It was one of a number of antisemitic incidents in Denmark last weekend, the anniversary of Kristallnacht.

Local reports said a Star of David had been pained onto the letterbox of a family in Silkeborg, on the Danish mainland peninsula of Jutland.

The cemetery at Randers dates back to the early 19th century when the town was home to around 200 Jews.

Around 6,000 Jewish people live in Denmark today, most of them in Copenhagen.