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Monday, August 25, 2025
Melbourne police arrest ‘Ghostface’ synagogue vandal
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleZev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.
Police in Melbourne have arrested a 37-year-old man for six separate incidents of graffiti on a synagogue in South Yarra over the course of this year.
On several occasions, the man was seen on security cameras spraypainting “offensive phrases” on the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation while wearing a Ghostface mask from the movie Scream, reports say.
The Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit charged the man with six accounts of criminal damage and offensive graffiti, as well as five accounts of driving an unregistered motor vehicle and driving without a license, the Victoria Police say. Investigators seized several items allegedly related to the offenses in a search of his home Monday morning.
The man is accused of vandalizing the synagogue on March 11, June 21, June 22, July 22, July 30, and August 19, according to the police report. He has been bailed to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on November 21.
Synagogues have been common targets of attacks as antisemitism skyrockets in Australia. Last week, Australian police said they had arrested a second suspect for an arson attack on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue in December.
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