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Police speak out on hate crime after anti-semitic graffiti attack on Jewish community

Waterpark Road, Salford. Credit: ITV News.

Sir Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, has spoken out after a swastika symbol was painted on a pavement in Waterpark Road, Salford - an area with a predominately Jewish population.

Figures released this week by the Community Security Trust showed the highest ever figure of anti-Semitic incidents recorded over the past year.

GMP says there has been an increase in such incidents since the terrorist attack in Paris and also an increase in hate incidents directed against Muslim individuals and institutions.

The force said it's "closely monitoring" all hate incidents and is asking the public to be vigilant.

Sir Peter Fahy. Credit: Press Association.

The use of a swastika in this way is insulting not only to members of the Jewish faith but indeed to the families of all those who fought against Nazism in the Second World War.

"You have to wonder whether people who do this are incredibly stupid and don't understand basic history or are just evil in wanting to cause fear and distress.

"Hate crime is important because it insults people's deeply held beliefs and their backgrounds and history and that is why the police see it as a priority.

"This incident is not just about some paint on a flagstone it has a wider significance because of all the death, destruction and hatred that this symbol represents . "

– Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy