A metal menorah has been stolen by vandals from a memorial to Holocaust victims.

“The menorah was part of a commemorative memorial near which thousands of people gather each year on Victory Day to pay homage to the Holocaust victims,” the Federation of the Jewish Communities of the Commonwealth of Independent States said in a statement today.

The Jewish community of Pervomaisk reported the incident to police. An investigation has been launched but so far police have no leads.

Pervomaisk chief rabbi Levi-Yitshak Perelshtein said he is inclined to link the disappearance of the menorah to anti-Semitic activity which he said has somewhat intensified recently. Earlier, insulting inscriptions were painted on the fence of a local Jewish cemetery.

At the same time, the rabbi does not rule out that the menorah was stolen by metal hunters.

(Source: Interfax)