Anti-semitic graffiti desecretated the Athens Holocaust Memorial for the second time this year as a group of vandals spraypainted the swastika on the monument. The Greek Jewish community condemned the act and called on the Greek authorities to protect the monument.

“We call upon the municipal and state authorities to effectively protect the Holocaust Monument of the capital, in order to avoid repetition of such phenomena,” said a joint statement from the Jewish Community of Athens and the Central Board of Jewish Communities n Greece regarding this incident as well as last May’s vandalism of the Jewish cemetery of Thessaloniki that pays tribute the sephardic community that was nearly wiped out during World War II. During May’s vandalism, marble ornaments were smashed off 12 graves and tombs’ heavy marble covers were also tampered with.

More vandalism had been noted at the Holocaust Monument on the isle of Rhodes in October 2012.

The Athens’ Holocaust monument was erected in 2010 to honor more than 60,000 Greek Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Only 5,000 remain in Greece today.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) survey shows that Greeks have the highest rate of anti-Semitic attitudes with 69% of the population having anti-Semitic views, far ahead of the second-highest country, France, with only 37% of the population espousing such views.