Police Probe Pro-Hamas Graffiti on Melbourne Billboard

In another incident in Sydney, a man was questioned after allegedly pointing a firearm from a moving truck at a synagogue.

Supporters gather for a rally to free Palestine on the steps of the Victorian parliament in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 15, 2023. Sam Tabone/Getty Images

Victoria Police are investigating two separate graffiti attacks in Melbourne after a billboard in Fitzroy was defaced with the words, “Glory to Hamas.”

The phrase, referring to the listed terrorist group, was painted on a blank billboard in the city’s inner north over the weekend.

Nearby, another slogan—“Oct 7 do it again”—was discovered partially removed from a wall in Westgarth.

Police confirmed they were investigating the incidents

“Police are investigating a criminal damage by graffiti which occurred at a business on High Street in Northcote,” a Victoria Police spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

“There is absolutely no place at all in our society for anti-Semitic or hate-based symbols and behaviour.”

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles later said the Melbourne graffiti was being looked into as a potential terror offence.

Political Leaders Condemn Acts

The graffiti appeared on the second anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people and triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

In turn, Palestinian authorities say the day signifies the beginning of an Israeli military campaign that has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza.

The timing of the vandalism drew immediate condemnation from across the political spectrum.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the act “abhorrent.”

“The people responsible must face the full force of the law,” he said in a statement.

“The [Australian Federal Police or AFP] will work with Victoria Police to bring them to justice.”

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the graffiti was “not in the spirit of wanting peace.”

“It is just so deeply wrong and offensive,” she said at a press conference.

“My thoughts and heart go with the Jewish community today and everyone in our community who is striving for peace and harmony. This is not achieving that outcome.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley took to X and described the slogans as “deeply disturbing.”

“Supporting them is not free speech, it is a crime. Those responsible must face the full force of the law,” she said.