HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL VANDALIZED IN CZECH REPUBLIC

Czech Republic: Holocaust memorial vandalized
Vandals have damaged a Holocaust memorial in the northeastern Czech Republic for the second time since it was installed in July, an official said Tuesday. The memorial in the town of Bohumin, 360 kilometers (225 miles) east of Prague, consists of a large circle resting on the ground, adorned by a Star of David and a marble cylinder with the inscription, "Memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, 1938-1945." The Star of David was covered with brown paint, said Peter Bachrach, a Jewish community leader in the nearby city of Ostrava. It was not immediately clear when the incident happened, he said.

Vandals targeted the memorial's inscription with similar paint in July, he said, just a few days after it was erected by the town in cooperation with the Ostrava Jewish community.
The memorial is located in the town's central square, where a synagogue once stood before being burned during World War II. Only one Jewish family now lives in the town, Bachrach said.