Windermere – Police is investigating after the graffiti was spotted in Windermere Library.
The vandal(s) daubed a swastika and a love heart in white on the side of the library. The graffiti was spotted by a number of residents and librarians.
The police confirmed the incident took place on September 2 and was logged as a crime which is now under investigation.
The location of the graffiti is where the Lake District Holocaust Project hosts its exhibition, which tells the story of the 300 Jewish children who came to the Lake District in 1945 after surviving the horrors of the Holocaust.
Trevor Avery, of the Lake District Holocaust Project, said there had been a pattern of this kind of graffiti in the area with one similar incident spotted in Queen’s Park in Windermere last year.
“It is becoming increasingly prevalent whatever the motives are for doing it and the police recognise that this even takes root in our pretty area of the Lake District,” he said.
“It is really unpleasant and I’m disappointed. The vast majority of people in the village were embarrassed and ashamed of it.
“You can imagine how the visitors felt when they came to the exhibition and were greeted by a swastika on the wall.
“There is nothing funny about it or edgy. Ultimately, they are just making fools of themselves. I have got to protect the integrity of the exhibition and what its message is.”
A group of volunteers from Anti-Racist Cumbria came and cleaned the graffiti on Monday.
Mr Avery added: “We have got to make what happened 80 years ago relevant to youngsters today and oldest.
“We have to take this seriously because it has happened too often. If it is a casual act of racism we have got to deal with it.”
