Jan. 13 (UPI) — Authorities in Australia are investigating the defacement of a Sydney synagogue as a potential arson attack, marking the latest crime targeting the Oceania’s Jewish community in recent weeks.
The New South Wales Police Force said in a statement that they are searching for two people accused of spray painting graffiti on the fence and building of the synagogue on Georgina Street in Sydney’s inner west suburb of Newtown around 4:25 a.m. local time Saturday.
The pair are also believed to have attempted to light the premises on fire.
The Newtown Synagogue said its facility was not damaged and was “back to where it was.”
“It is frustrating, infuriating and sad that this has happened,” the place of worship said in a statement. “The people who did this are cowards, frankly, and it is good that we have taken the security measures we have, so the fence did its job, the CCTV did its job and we continue to do ours, which is to be a light in the community and to the world.”
Police on Saturday released screen captures taken from CCTV footage of two suspects, showing them dressed entirely in black.
One wore a hooded sweatshirt with white writing across the front, a backpack and white shoes as well as a white glove on their right hand. They were riding a black-and-white mountain bike.
The other suspect wore a black jacket, tracksuit pants, gloves and white shoes and was seen riding a black motorized scooter.
Police said they are also investigating two other separate but potentially related graffiti incidents. A house in the city’s Jewish community was vandalized as were five parked and unattended cars as well as a trailer on the same street. The second incident comprised of “offensive comments” spray painted on a poster.
The incident also comes a day after swastikas were reportedly spray painted on the Southern Sydney Synagogue on Railway Parade in Sydney’s southern Allawah suburb, which police are also investigating.
Following the incident involving the Southern Sydney Synagogue, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday called for the full force of the law to be brought down on those responsible.
“There is no place in Australia, our tolerant, multicultural community, for this sort of criminal activity,” he said during a press conference.
NSW Premier Chris Minns vowed they will continue to deploy police resources to prevent further “awful hate crimes.”
“This horrifying and hateful attack is not representative of our acceptance of and closeness to the Jewish community,” Minns said in a statement.
“The individuals responsible are determined to divide our community and spread hate — this won’t be tolerated.”
The synagogues were targeted as the number of anti-Semitic incidents in Australia has been soaring amid Israel’s war against Iran-backed Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people.
Last month, a Jewish suburb of Sydney was vandalized with anti-Jewish slogans and a car was set ablaze. Days earlier, an arson attack gutted a synagogue in Melbourne.
According to a report published late last year by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, there were more than 2,000 anti-Jewish incidents tallied during the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, marking an increase of 316% compared to the same period a year prior.
