Two 13-year-old boys have been arrested after anti-Semitic graffiti and swastikas were daubed over gravestones in a Jewish cemetery in Manchester, the BBC reported on Saturday.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) called the attack at the cemetery in Rochdale Road, Blackley, "sickening and cruel".
GMP said the boys were arrested on Friday on suspicion of committing a racially-aggravated public order offence.
The boys were released on police bail until July 25, the report said.
In addition to the slogans and graffiti, about 40 headstones were toppled. Bernard Freeman, an 88-year-old who came to visit his mother's grave, was shocked to discover it had been knocked over.
"I come here to say a prayer to my mother and my father and tell them in my own way about the children, the grandchildren and great grandchildren - to come here and find this, it's diabolical, it really is," said Freeman.
Manchester outpaced London in 2011 as the UK city with the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents. However, Manchester's Jewish Community Security Trust claimed the anti-Semitism has dropped, adding "we hope this is an isolated incident."
Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe in general, with a full 1% of the French Jewish community expected to make aliyah by the end of the year following numerous violent anti-Semitic attacks.