(JTA) — A Holocaust memorial in Rhodes was spray-painted with swastikas.
The Holocaust Memorial to the Jews of Rhodes in the Jewish Martyrs Square — the old Jewish Quarter — was defaced Saturday on its six sides. The initials AME also were spray-painted on the monument, possibly referring to an unknown organization, according to the Greek Helsinki Monitor.
The Security Police of Rhodes has launched an investigation.
It is not the first time that the monument, which was dedicated in 2002, has been vandalized.
On each side of the monument the words "Do not ever forget the eternal memory of the 1,604 Jews of Rhodes and Kos who perished in Nazi death camps" are etched, each side in a different language.
Some 1,600 Jews were rounded up by the Nazis in July 1944. Today only a handful of Jews remain in Rhodes.
