Police probe three vandalism incidents at Manchester Jewish cemetery

Police are investigating three separate incidents of vandalism at a Jewish cemetery in Manchester, with the most recent causing “thousands of pounds worth of damage”.

More than 30 headstones were pushed over at Urmston Jewish Cemetery in Manchester on Sunday, following two other reports of criminal damage at the site on 7 and 14 May.

Greater Manchester Police said they are investigating the separate incidents and “the spates of vandalism are being treated as hate incidents”, but no arrests have been made.

The police are investigating CCTV footage to identify offenders and patrols in the area have been increased.

The Community Security Trust said they’d been contacted over the issue, saying in a statement: “To desecrate graves in this way is a despicable act that causes huge upset to the whole community, and particularly to families whose loved ones are buried in the cemetery. We are working closely with the Police and the burial authorities to see what can be done to catch the perpetrators and to prevent further damage. We call on anybody with information about who might be responsible to contact the Police or CST.”

Local councillor Joanne Harding took to Twitter posting a picture of the most recent incident. She said: “Just been to inspect Urmston Jewish Cemetery with care taker. Imagine going to see your relatives graves and find it trashed and disrespected. Thousands of pounds worth of damage . Meeting police to review security.”