Swastikas on Jewish cemetery (illustration)
Swastikas on Jewish cemetery (illustration)Reuters

Several tombstones at the Jewish cemetery of Trondheim - a town located in the northern part of Norway - were desecrated last week, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported Wednesday. 

The tombstones, discovered on October 25, had been vandalized with purple paint, the Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten reported. “Der Furher,” a reference to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, was also painted on a nearby building.

Police are patrolling the area but do not yet have any suspects, Aftenposten added in its article.

Earlier in October, Ervin Kohn, president of the Jewish community of Oslo, expressed concern at the level of anti-Semitism in Norway, claiming that Norway holds the most anti-Semitic beliefs of all the Nordic countries. 

He argued that the Norwegian public continues to believe "stereotypes and conspiracy theories that Jews have a great impact on the world financial markets and seek to take over the world."

The word “Jew,” Kohn added, has become one of the most common curse words in Norwegian schools.

A survey of grammar schools conducted by Oslo municipality revealed that one in three Jewish students are bullied at least once a month. Kohn informed Aftenposten of this phenomenon in an interview.

The desecration of Trondheim's cemetery represents the latest anti-Semitic incident in Norway, of which there have been many in recent years.