Police on duty in the French city of Strasbourg. Photo: Reuters / Elyxandro Cegarra.

The public prosecutor in the French city of Strasbourg on Thursday announced an investigation into an antisemitic assault on a young Jewish graffiti artist earlier this week.

The artist had been working on a project commissioned by the City of Strasbourg when he was accosted by two people on Rue Léon Blum — named after the former socialist prime minister of France who was also the first Jew to hold the post.

The two individuals verbally insulted and jostled the artist after they noticed him wearing a t-shirt that displayed the names of several countries and cities, including Israel.

One of the assailants aggressively told the artist, “You are a Jew, you have no place here,” before telling the artist to change his shirt — which he duly did.

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But when he returned to complete his work, the artist was confronted again by the same man, who grabbed one of his paint canisters and sprayed offensive slogans on the ground, including “forbidden to Jews” and “bitch.”

The artist reported the incident to his manager at the Strasbourg City Council, and filed a complaint with police on Thursday morning.

“The police  are mobilized to carry out the investigations necessary for the apprehension of the perpetrators, within the framework of the investigation opened by the Prosecutor of Strasbourg,” Josiane Chevalier, the prefect of the Bas -Rhin region where Strasbourg is located, said in a statement on Thursday, adding that she “strongly condemned this intolerable act.”