27 Jewish graves vandalized in eastern France

Police say vandals have smashed or overturned 27 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in eastern France.

The gendarme service of the Bas-Rhin region says the damage was discovered at the cemetery in Wolfisheim on Wednesday.

No other details were immediately available.

Jewish grave sites around France are attacked sporadically by vandals, who leave gravestones broken or sprayed with anti-Semitic slogans.

Desecrated cemetery (Photo: AFP)

France is home to western Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim populations, and there are occasional attacks on their schools, cemeteries or places of worship.

In January a Jewish cemetery in Strasbourg was desecrated by neo-Nazis. Knesset Member Shlomo Molla (Kadima), who was in the French city to attend a ceremony marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, told Ynet, "It was a horrible sight, which probably stemmed from the rising anti-Semitism is Europe."

"There were dozens of shattered tombstones, swastikas sprayed everywhere – complete destruction. This is a heinous crime," he added. "And today of all days, when dozens of European dignitaries are attending the ceremony… this is a reminder that anti-Semitism is alive. World nations must pass laws against such anti-Semitic expressions," he said.