Vandals desecrate Jewish cemetery in Bavaria

BERLIN, Mar 5 (Reuters) Vandals have knocked over some 60 gravestones at an 18th-century Jewish cemetery in Bavaria, destroying more than half of them, police in the southern German state said.

The vandals, who scaled a cemetery wall, also toppled 11 memorials to Jews who fought for Germany in World War One, police in Mittelfranken said in a statement posted on their web site.

''Because no graffiti or symbols with a political message were found, pure vandalism could have been the motive,'' the statement released on Saturday said, adding that the crime could have been committed at any time since the end of January.

''Several tens of thousands of euros damage was caused, according to first estimates, but the loss of these historic cultural possessions weighs far more heavily,'' it said.

The cemetery is near the village of Diespeck between Nuremberg and Wuerzburg. There is a reward of 3,500 euros for information about the incident, police said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week condemned an arson attack on a Jewish nursery school in Berlin, calling it a horrifying attempt to disrupt Jewish life.

A leader of the Jewish community told Reuters anti-Semitic violence had reached a new and worrisome level with the attack, in which the building was defaced with anti-Semitic slogans.

Reuters SRS VP0435