Synagogue targeted with graffiti by man in Scream mask

A man wearing a mask from the horror movie Scream sprayed offensive graffiti on a historic synagogue in South Yarra five times since March.

CCTV footage shows a lone man wearing a white mask approach the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in South Yarra on an e-scooter before vandalising the synagogue. He then fled on the scooter.

Police allege he scrawled graffiti on the synagogue on March 11, June 21, June 22, July 22 and July 30. In the July incidents, he wore a Scream mask, police said, but on other occasions, he wore different face coverings, such as a bandana.

“There is absolutely no place at all in our society for hate-based behaviour,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

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Speaking to The Age after his synagogue was spray-painted with “Iran is Da Bomb” (during Israel’s war on Iran) and “Free Palestine” in June, Rabbi Shlomo Nathanson said it was “un-Australian”.

“There’s going to be a wide variety of opinions as to the politics in the Middle East and where things stand from one extreme to the other, but to translate that into violent acts and antisemitism and criminal activity here in Australia is un-Australian,” Nathanson said.

The synagogue is the oldest Jewish congregation in Melbourne, according to its website, and was formed in 1841.

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