One of the Nazi swastikas painted at the Gates of Prayer Cemetery in New Orleans. Photo: Screenshot.

The New Orleans Police Department said on Tuesday that patrols would be boosted around synagogues and other Jewish institutions after a local cemetery was vandalized with swastikas and a crossed-out Star of David.

The offending symbols were sprayed over Sewerage and Water Board markings at the city’s Gates of Prayer cemetery. A crew from the New Orleans Department of Public Works cleaned up the graffiti on Monday afternoon.

Rabbi David Gerber of the Gates of Prayer Synagogue told local media outlets that there was no indication of a wider threat to the community, despite the upset caused by the vandalism.

“The Nazi imagery is painful, it brings up memories, it brings a sense of fear among our people,” Gerber said in an interview with the WDSU news channel. “We don’t believe this was indicative of any sort of threat or movement.”

Mel Grodsky, whose parents are buried at the cemetery, expressed disgust at the act.

“I have been to Europe and I have been to Auschwitz and these reminders that it doesn’t go away cannot be allowed to happen,” Grodsky told WWL-TV.

“You have Holocaust survivors and World War II veterans buried in this cemetery and for them to paint this on the street is a total disgrace,” Grodsky added.