A Holocaust memorial in the northern Greek town of Kavala has been vandalised for a second time just 12 months since it was erected.
The damage occurred last Wednesday, when the marble surface was damaged using hammers by anti-Semites, reports the Jewish Press.
The memorial commemorates the 1,484 Jews who were deported during World War II to the death camp of Treblinka, where they were subsequently murdered.
The mayor of Kavala Dimitra Tsanaka promptly inspected the damage on Thursday, which she followed up with a phone call to president of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) David Saltiel and condemned the vandalism.
In a statement issued by the KIS president, he expressed his concern over the message of racism and intolerance being sent by the vandalism.
“At the same time we express our deep concern: these acts of desecration show that anti-Semitism – an anti-Semitism almost without Jews – racism and intolerance survive and lurk everywhere, at every moment,” the statement read.
“Every moral, political or other act of legitimation of the nostalgic pro-Nazis increases the risk of the revival of anti-Semitism and of the expansion of such incidents that threaten the values of a modern and democratic society and darken the prestige of our country. Prosecutors should take all necessary measures to arrest the vandals responsible and bring them to justice.”