A Hanukkah menorah placed in the middle of the Ukrainian capital was pulled down last week by a perpetrator who then posted the attack online.
The hanukkiah had been erected in Kiev's Kontraktova Square by the local Jewish community to mark the holiday of Hanukkah, but was pulled down on Thursday by a local man known for committing acts of anti-Semitism in the past.
Andryi Rchock posts vadalism attack on Menora in Kiev city square
(Facebook)
Andriy Rachock carried out the attack all whilst streaming it live on Facebook, accompanied by the caption, "Ukrainians we are the power, Jews to the graves." He was arrested at the scene.
In his post, Rachok said he wanted to show everyone how to treat foreigners who are taking over the country.
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Andriy Rachock pulls down Menora in Kiev in anti-Semitic act he streamed online
(Photo: Facebook)
Members of the United Jewish Community of Ukrain said Rachok returned to the square later and attempted to pull down the hanukkiah again but found it had been welded to the ground.
They called on authorities to investigate the act as a hate crime.
In the meantime, the Anne Frank Human Rights memorial in Boise, Idaho in the United States with nine swastika stickers placed on the memorial with the words, accompanied by the words, "we are everywhere".
Dan Prinzing, executive director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights said what made the incident so sad was "the blatancy of where they [the stickers] were placed, how they were placed and the message they were conveying.”
"We have always felt like the heart of the community and this was a stab in the heart," he said.
This is the second time the memorial has been vandalized. In 2017, an anti-Semitic graffiti spray painted for four consecutive nights led to nearly $20,000 worth of damage, Prinzing said.