Graves desecrated at Israeli Commonwealth cemetery.
Blood red paint splattered across what is supposed to a place of rest and peace.
A Commonwealth cemetery in Haifa, Israel has been targeted by vandals in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls "an abhorrent crime".
On Friday (October 11), over thirty tombstones were discovered to have been desecrated, some with swastikas.
For Haifa resident, Ziv Harel, the vandalism is an affront to the city's heritage:
(SOUNDBITE) (English) HAIFA RESIDENT, ZIV HAREL, SAYING:
"I don't know if it is a crime of hate or not, or just vandalism, but this cemetery is not only for Christians, it is also for Jewish as you can see here, there are Muslims and Hindu that are buried here in the First World War, in the Second World War and in-between and the mandate time in Israel, the British mandate time, and behind the trees there is German, the Templer German cemetery. So it's part of Haifa, part of the history of Haifa, and it is very sad what we see here."
The cemetery is the final resting place of around 340 Commonwealth soldiers, most of whom were killed in World War One, some in World War Two.
Israeli police are investigating the incident what they suspect to be a hate crime.
