Swastikas and anti-semitic graffiti appear in Cullercoats park for the second time this month

A local councillor said he "would throw the book at them" after park was defaced for the second time. Credit: NCJ MEDIA

A coastal park in North Tyneside has been defaced with Nazi graffiti for a second time in a month.

The sign to the Links Road Play Area in Cullercoats was first defaced with swastikas and anti-Semitic writing earlier this month.

To the dismay and shock of locals, after it was cleaned up, it was defaced again the day after Remembrance Sunday.

North Tyneside council said it is uncceptable - and urged residents to report offensive graffiti so it can be removed.

The sign was covered with swastikas, the term "concentration camp" and a drawing of Adolf Hitler.Tynemouth councillor Lewis Bartoli said: "This was shocking and clearly anti-Semitic. Fortunately, things like this are rare here, it's not something we see that often."I have notified the council and the anti-social behaviour team within the council and the public protection team. If you could find those responsible, I would throw the book at them.

"There has to be zero tolerance. We have a Holocaust Remembrance Day here, it's well attended by councillors across the political divide. It's an issue that unites us all."We can all say we find this unacceptable. Whoever did this should be ashamed of themselves. It's just awful, it's offensive to someone like me. But if you were a Jewish parent and you saw that, how could you explain that to your child?"Kimberley Pye, head of environment and safer neighbourhoods at North Tyneside Council, said: “We strongly condemn graffitiing of any kind, especially graffiti that promotes discrimination.“We take reports like this very seriously and council staff attended the site to clear the affected area on the same day we were notified. Unfortunately, the same location was targeted again with more graffiti of this nature.

"Our staff once again acted quickly, and this was removed on the same day. If you see graffiti or any other environmental issues when you’re out in North Tyneside, please report it to us so that we can take action.”North Tyneside Council pledged to tackle hate crime through the borough in October this year.

A total of 404 incidents of hate crime were reported in North Tyneside in 2021, themajority of which were race related.

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