A Melbourne golf club that was founded by members of the Jewish community has been targeted by vandals who spray-painted anti-Semitic, homophobic and obscene graffiti on its greens.
The Cranbourne Golf Club in Melbourne's south-east said the vandalism took place on Tuesday night and was being investigated by police.
Nazi swastikas and obscene symbols were sprayed in black paint in an attack the club said was "very disgusting and disturbing".
The club's general manager Cameron Mott said about half of the club's 850 members were Jewish and the swastikas "felt very personal".
Mr Mott said the vandals had also damaged a green and it was upsetting that members had been exposed to the graffiti.
The club has set up a temporary replacement hole while staff attempt to remove the graffiti without further damaging the green.
Players 'shocked by the ugly scene'
Victoria Police said they were investigating a "criminal damage incident" at the golf course.
Police said they had been told unknown offenders vandalised areas of the course sometime between 7:00pm on 19 May and 9:00am on 20 May.
The club was set up in the 1953 by members of the Jewish community who had been excluded from other golf clubs
Dvir Abramovich from the Anti-Defamation Commission condemned the vandalism and said multiple golf players had been "shocked by the ugly scene".
"Another day, another sickening and chilling incident of swastika vandalism, and if this hate spree continues, Melbourne will soon be known as the swastika capital of Australia," Dr Abramovich said.
"When this type of cruel and vicious vandalism comes into full view, it reminds us that there are white-supremacists in our midst wishing to intimidate us."
"We call on the State Government to convene a roundtable of leaders from across the spectrum to come together and agree on effective measures to fight against this toxic bigotry that is threatening our way of life.
The Victorian Opposition said the anti-Semitic attack was "yet another painful example of the Nazi swastika being used to incite fear and intolerance in the community".
Shadow Minister for Police and Community Safety, David Southwick said the club had been the site of multiple anti-Semitic attacks and the vandalism followed several recent incidents in Caulfield, Beulah, Kyabram and Wagga Wagga, where "Nazi symbolism was used in deliberate attempts to intimidate and threaten a range of minority groups".
He called on the State Government to support the Opposition's call for a ban on the public display of the Nazi swastika and other Nazi symbols.
