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Police in Germany arrested a 37-year-old Afghan national on Thursday on suspicion of dousing the entrance steps of the Bergische Synagogue in the western city of Wuppertal with a flammable liquid and attempting to set them ablaze.
No one was hurt in the incident, and the site suffered only slight damage. Police have opened an investigation.
The incident took place around 2 p.m. in the Barmen district. Community members moved quickly to put out the flames.
Police said they already knew the suspect and, based on initial findings, believe he acted without accomplices. No motive has been made public.
The Wuppertal synagogue has been targeted before. Assailants threw Molotov cocktails at the building in 2014.
Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, warned of the “progressive normalization of hatred of Jews.”
He noted that it occurred three days before Yom Kippur and urged security authorities to guarantee worshippers’ safety.
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