A Holocaust memorial in Paneriai, Lithuania was vandalized twice in just four days, Israel Hayom learned Wednesday.
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In both cases, the monument was spray-painted with the letters Z and V, which are military symbols used by the Russian military, which invaded Ukraine. The first incident occurred on March 31, and the second on April 3.
The memorial was erected in memory of the 70,000 Jews who were massacred in Paneriai during World War II, along with 30,000 other victims.
Although authorities have no suspects at this time, they say the vandalism was most likely committed by Lithuanian nationalists or as a provocation by supporters of Russia.
A member of the local Jewish community told Israel Hayom the incident occurred at a particularly sensitive time as Jews worry about the situation in Ukraine, wondering if Lithuania could be next.
Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, condemned the vandalism, saying, "The attempt to link the local Jewish community to the Russian invasion of Ukraine is completely distorted and false. It might encourage antisemitism and attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions.
Zuroff said the incident was eerily similar of how the Bolshevik government accused the Jewish community of wrongdoing to recruit volunteers to join the killing of Jews.
"We call on local authorities to apprehend and bring the perpetrators of these ugly incidents to justice as soon as possible," he said.
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