Jedwabne monument, Thursday morning; photo PAP/Artur Reszko
The vandalism was discovered this morning in Jedwabne, north west Poland, where in July 1941, over 300 Jews were herded into a barn and burnt by local Polish Catholics.
Police investigating the incident in the nearby city of Bialystok are presently looking into a rash of recent, although as of yet unclarified acts of nationalistic vandalism in the area.
These include the defacing of 28 signs in Lithuanian (there is a significant Lithuanian minority in the region), an arson attack on the Muslim Cultural Centre in Bialystok, and fascist graffiti on the walls of the 18th century synagogue in the village of Orla.
Police have not commented on whether they believe the crimes to be related.
In the case of today's discovery at the Jedwabne monument, the obelisk has been daubed with provocative slogans.
“Do not apologise for Jedwabne,” one reads.
“They burnt easily,” reads another.
Inscriptions in Polish and Hebrew have been painted over, and swastikas now mark the monument.
The obelisk was originally installed to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jedwabne pogrom. At that time, the then president of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski, formally apologised to the Jewish nation for the massacre. (nh/pg)