Jewish Cemetery Attacks Investigation Winds Down

The police inquiry into August's vandalism of two Wellington Jewish cemeteries is drawing to a close without an offender being identified.

Both the Bolton Street and Makara cemeteries were attacked within three weeks of each other, and headstones were knocked over. At the Makara cemetery a prayer house was set on fire.

Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Cotter said that there had been no recent developments in the case and described it as "a hard slog." Although the case was being worked on along with other cases, there was no longer a team assigned to it.

President of the New Zealand Jewish Council David Zwartz was upset by the news, but said that the case was entirely in the hands of the police and there was nothing further that could be done. However, he hoped that the police would keep the file open in case more information surfaced in the future.

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast made a plea for anybody who had any information about the vandalism to come forward and hoped that those responsible would be brought to justice. "It doesn't reflect well on the rest of us," she said.

ENDS

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