The destruction of 13 Jewish graves in Belfast has been condemned by political and religious figures across Northern Ireland.
Police said a large crowd of young people wielding hammers and blocks vandalised the graves on Friday afternoon at the municipal cemetery on the Falls Road in the west of the city.
PSNI Chief Inspector Norman Haslett said it was “a particularly sickening incident, which we are treating as a hate crime”.
Bishop Noel Treanor of the Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor said: "These shameful acts are a blemish on our society."
He said condemnation was not enough, and people also needed to discuss xenophobia.
“What a tragedy and blemish then that the long-present, beloved and treasured Jewish families of our community should suffer yet again such actions of disrespect, violence to the memory of their beloved dead and the regrettable outworking of a latent xenophobia that stalks the minds of some.
“Only yesterday a young mother, native of another land, and now an admirable fellow citizen of this city and land, told me of how a young child of four had muttered racist and xenophobic sentiments to her child of similar age in a public playground.
“Others who have come to live and work among us have told me of incidents in supermarkets where shoppers speaking a language other than English were treated with disdain and disrespect by fellow-shoppers who are natives here.
“I do not suggest these attitudes are widespread, but we all need to be vigilant lest we succumb to, harbour or induce hatred of other races, colour or religious belief.
“Failure to address such attitudes to others is not worthy of a Christian culture and people. Racism and xenophobia are issues of our times.”
The municipal cemetery where the attack took place is one of the oldest public graveyards in Belfast and it is maintained by the city council.
Bishop Treanor told worshippers at St Peter’s Cathedral in Belfast: “As a society, as neighbourhoods and communities, we must honestly consider if we harbour attitudes that are negative to those whom we too easily classify as ‘foreigner’, rather than see them as sisters and brothers in Christ and in humanity.
“As a society, we need to build co-operation between our homes and schools to ensure that our children are educated in heart and attitude, in mind and action, to respect every person without exception.”
SDLP MLA Alex Attwood said Dr Treanor’s comments should be carefully listened to and acted on. “Among the many interventions needed is a robust and actionable anti racism strategy in law in the north,” he said.
Sinn Féin MP for Belfast West Paul Maskey was among those to condemn the vandalism, saying anyone with information should bring it forward to the PSNI.
Alliance Party Belfast City Councillor Michael Long described it as “not just an attack on the Jewish population of Belfast but on us all”.
Additional reporting PA