Damage to gravestones in the Jewish section of Belfast’s City Cemetery shows a “a total lack of respect”, police have said.
About 10 graves in the cemetery on the Falls Road in west Belfast were damaged on Thursday evening.
Police said the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.
PSNI Insp Róisín Brown said she was “appalled” at the incident, which happened “where members of the community come to pay their respects”.
“The damage to these graves shows a total lack of respect for others and will have a significant impact on individuals and families within the Jewish community,” she said.
Insp Brown encouraged the local community in west Belfast to hold those responsible to account for their actions and contact police with information.
Some of the graves date back to the 1870s and are in a walled-off section of the cemetery, which is often locked.
The cemetery is maintained by Belfast City Council.
Read story in full on BBC News
Chair of the Belfast Hebrew Congregation, Michael Black, said “The graves in this cemetery are very old and there are no families remaining in Belfast who are connected with the graves and able to maintain them.”
