A heritage-listed synagogue in Melbourne has again been defaced in the latest incident of a disturbing pattern of antisemitic attacks. The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in South Yarra, the city’s oldest Jewish congregation, was hit overnight on Wednesday, marking the fourth time the synagogue has been targeted in five weeks.

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On Thursday morning, staff discovered fresh graffiti scrawled across the front of the Toorak Road building. The words “war crimes” were written alongside a Star of David. Police were promptly called to the scene.

Victoria Police confirmed detectives from the Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit are now examining the incident as part of a broader investigation.

“It is understood an offender graffitied the front of the premises on Toorak Rd at approximately 8.30pm,” police told the Herald Sun. “Detectives are investigating whether this incident is linked to any others, including graffiti on the same synagogue on 22 July.”

Melbourne Synagogue vandalised for 4th time in 5 weeks@VictoriaPolice have not arrested or charged anyone for any of the incidents despite being provided CCTV footage pic.twitter.com/9U2XKCLOsB

— Menachem Vorchheimer (@MenachemV) July 31, 2025

No arrests have been made, and police say there were no other reported incidents overnight.

The synagogue, commonly known as the Toorak shule, was previously defaced just days earlier, with “Free Palestine” sprayed across its exterior in blue paint. That came less than 24 hours after red graffiti bearing the same phrase, along with “Iran is da bomb”, was discovered on the same site.

The vandalism coincides with an uptick in antisemitic activity across Melbourne. Over the weekend, anti-Israel protesters targeted Jewish philanthropists during a demonstration at the National Gallery of Victoria.