Swastikas daubed on Jewish gravestones

Every gravestone at a Jewish cemetery has been daubed with swastikas in what police are treating as a racially motivated attack.

Many of the desecrated graves at the cemetery in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, belonged to people who had survived the Holocaust.

The vandalism happened at the Jewish section of a graveyard belonging to St Mary's Church in Bletchley. Barry Norman, chairman of the local synagogue, said the Jewish community was horrified. "Desecration of any graveyard is unacceptable and when somebody daubs swastikas on Jewish graves it obviously touches a few nerves," he said.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "This was a particularly disturbing incident as it deeply affects the relatives of the dead people.

"We will be increasing patrols in the area to reduce the chances of it happening again. We do not know for certain what lay behind the incident, however the nature of the graffiti would tend to suggest a racial motive."

A spokesman for Milton Keynes council, which maintains the cemetery, condemned the attack, and said there had been talks with police about improving security at the site. But he added: "We have to balance the need for security with giving access to people who visit the graves of their loved ones."