Manchester, UK. Photo: wiki commons.

The word Nazi and crude swastikas were scrawled in permanent marker onto a seat on the Manchester, UK, Metrolink tram, the Manchester Evening News reported Friday.

According to the report, “tram bosses” were on the hunt for the perpetrators and Metrolink staff acted immediately to remove the offensive markings.

Passenger Rob Grant told the Evening News he spotted the graffiti as nobody was sitting on the seat.

“At Central Park the driver got off the tram and I showed him. We drove to Monsall and the tram was taken out of service to remove it,” he said. “It’s a terrible act of vandalism – it’s a very unpleasant thing to see and I do think they did the right thing taking it out of service.”

Tram authorities took the train out of service and cleaned the seat, causing slight delays.

Last September, four visibly Jewish men were attacked at a tram station also in Manchester, and one of the victims, 17, was hospitalized for hemorrhaging in the brain and a fractured skull after being knocked unconscious. Two suspects, both 17 and claiming to have been drunk, were arrested and pleaded guilty to assault.