Antisemitic Vandals Deface Shop in Heart of Northwestern Italian Port City of Savona

A shop on Via Pia in the center of the northwestern Italian port city of Savona was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti over the weekend by anonymous perpetrators.

The vandals spray-painted two Celtic crosses and the word “Juden” (“Jews” in German) on the store’s exterior.

Police are checking security footage from the area to try to identify suspects.

The incident drew widespread condemnation from local officials.

Savona Mayor Marco Russo expressed solidarity with the business owner, who is not Jewish, calling the vandalism an “intolerable and disturbing act” that “offends the democratic, anti-fascist, and anti-racist culture” of city, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reported.

“We must all be vigilant together so that these acts are not repeated,” Russo added.

Italy has not been immune to the global surge of antisemitism of the past year. Just last week, far-right Italian lawmaker Fabio Meroni derisively referred to prominent Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre by the number that was tattooed on her arm by the Nazis at Auschwitz.

And in April, a large group of far-right extremists were filmed doing a mass Nazi salute at a public rally in Milan.