Anti-Semitic slogans, swastikas painted on synagogue in France

Unidentified individuals painted anti-Semitic slogans and swastikas on a synagogue in the French city of Verdun but failed to break in.

Congregants discovered the vandalism on Saturday morning, Jean Blacharz, the local community’s vice president, told the L’Est Républicain daily. He added that the incident was the first of its kind in recent memory in Verdun, in northeast France.

“I am speechless, shocked and outraged at this incident,” Blacharz said.

Two black swastikas were drawn on a relief shaped like the Tablets of Testimony that adorns the synagogue’s entrance. “Screw the Jews” and another profanity were written on an exterior wall.

The vandals also kicked open an outer door, but were unable to enter the more sturdy portal behind it.

Police are investigating the incident and have placed extra security around the small community’s house of worship.

Anti-Semitic acts in France have soared in recent years, increasing by 84 percent in the period between January 2015 and May 2015 compared with a year earlier, according to official statistics.

There have also been a series of attacks on French Jews, including a shooting at a kosher supermarket in Paris in January 2015 that killed four.