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A swastika was spray-painted on the base of a Maimonides statue in Córdoba, Spain, local officials confirmed on Saturday.
The bronze monument stands in Tiberiades Plaza, at the center of Córdoba’s historic Jewish quarter.
It honors Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, the medieval Sephardic philosopher known as Rambam. Sculptor Amadeo Ruiz Olmos created it in 1964 to mark the 760th anniversary of his death.
Acting Mayor Cintia Bustos condemned the attack as a strike against Córdoba’s heritage. She lamented the “extreme seriousness of the message of hate it represents.”
Antonio Hurtado, spokesperson for Córdoba’s Socialist Party (PSOE), called for the graffiti’s swift removal. “I have requested that it be cleaned immediately, but it is concerning the vandalism in our Historic Quarter, which attacks not only people but also our rich heritage,” he said.
Córdoba’s municipality assigned a specialized team to clean it. The city covered the defaced area with a sign while cleanup was underway. Spain’s National Police opened an investigation. The incident followed damage to other Córdoba landmarks this year, including markings left on the Roman Bridge in April.
The Federation of Spanish Jewish Communities rejected the desecration outright. “Our total repudiation of the targeting with a Nazi symbol of this Jewish, Sephardic, Córdoban, Spanish, universal figure,” the group said in a statement on Sunday.
The Barcelona Jewish Community, whose Great Synagogue bears Maimonides’s name, condemned the attack. “Hate can never prevail over culture,” it said.
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