Worshipers arriving this week for the afternoon prayer at a new synagogue in the northern city of Migdal Ha'emek found anti-Semitic graffiti on its walls, Kikar Hashabbat reported.
The door of the synagogue was sprayed with swastikas, a Star of David, and within it warp and weft, Kikar Hashabbat said. On the walls were curses and insults.
Israel Police arrived at the synagogue following a report, and began investigating. Intelligence investigators and detectives from the forensic unit in Nazareth gathered evidence from the scene with the goal of capturing the perpetrators.
Rabbi Menachem Mishulovin, the synagogue's rabbi and a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, said, "The response to darkness is one thing: More light, a lot more light."
"Whoever wanted to desecrate the synagogue will discover that it only became more beautiful. And the same place where a hand intended to stain, will be covered with a beautiful wall of bricks, which will beautify the house of G-d. This is the eternal response to evil."
Dozens of people visit the synagogue, which also serves as a Chabad House, every day of the week. Last month, the synagogue underwent renovations.