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| Shock over London Jewish cemetery desecration
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LONDON (EJP)--- The desecration of an 18th century Jewish cemetery in London has shocked the city's community.
Fourteen gravestones at the Brady Street cemetery in Whitechapel were knocked over on 21 May and police are now trying to track down two individuals who were seen running from the scene.
Although no grafiti was found, Mark Gardner, a spokesman for the Community Security Trust which protects the British Jewish community spoke of his outrage at the attack.
Gardner called the attack “vile” and a “cause of serious concern for the community.”
The graveyard, where more than 10,000 Jews are buried, is located in an area of London which was vastly populated by Jews during the 1900s. Although Jewish people have on the whole since moved from the area, known as the East End of London, the cemetery is still overseen by the United Synagogue, the mainstream religious organisation in the UK.
Saddened
The US head of burials, said he was extremely upset when he saw what had happened and called on the police to find the culprits.
Melvyn Hartog said: “Nothing saddens me more than to know that there are people who would damage any cemetery. They are cowards.”
Hartog said the US would replace any broken pieces of gravestone and any that were left intact would be placed at the side of the grave.
Local police Chief Inspector Nick Hancock, who heads operations at Tower Hamlets police, said the investigation into the attack would be thorough.
“I and the Metropolitan Police Service take any attack on any religious premises, particularly cemeteries as very serious as it threatens the confidence of the community in their way of life,” Hancock stressed. “I want to commit the best possible response to investigating and dealing with this.”
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