Teenager arrested after 'join your local Nazis' posters appear across Cardiff

'The incidents appeared to support an Extreme Right Wing ideology and suggested links to several known extreme right wing groups'

The graffiti appeared in the Grangetown area of Cardiff (Greg Pycroft/Twitter)

A teenager has been arrested after far-right graffiti and posters including swastikas and slogans including “join your local Nazis” appeared across areas of Cardiff earlier this year.

The 19-year-old from Cheltenham was detained by officers from the Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit (WECTU) and held on suspicion of conspiracy to incite racial hatred and conspiracy to commit arson.

The man has not yet been identified was taken to Queens Road police station, in Bridgend.

The incidents took place at a number of locations in Cardiff in March this year and coincided with a planned peace event. They also included other incidents at the Senedd building, Millennium Centre and Cardiff University’s buildings.

Spray-painted swastikas alongside the words “Nazi zone” appeared in parts of Grangetown.

Posters featuring neo-Nazi images and saying “join your local Nazis” were seen in the Cathays area of the city.

They told people to visit a website run by a group called “System Resistance Network".

Detective Superintendent Jim Hall of WECTU said: “Officers from WECTU worked with South Wales Police to investigate several instances of racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage in the Cardiff area between October 2017 and April 2018. The incidents appeared to support an Extreme Right Wing ideology and suggested links to several known extreme right wing groups."

He added that the arrest would "help to reassure communities that matters like these are taken very seriously and all possible lines of enquiry are fully investigated to identify and prosecute offenders.”

He said: “Extremism will not be tolerated within our communities and appropriate action has been taken to address any concerns and risks identified.”