Car with Hanukkah sign set ablaze in Melbourne

Sydney: Australian police are investigating a “suspicious fire” after a car carrying a sign celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah was set ablaze Thursday in Melbourne.

The empty car, which had a “Happy Chanukah” sign fixed to the roof, was scorched by the fire while parked in a house driveway, images on national broadcaster ABC television showed.

It was set alight in the early hours of Thursday morning in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda East, Victoria police said in a statement, describing it as a “suspicious fire”.

Occupants of the house were evacuated as a precaution.

“Detectives have identified a person who may be able to assist with their investigation and they are actively searching for and making enquiries into their whereabouts,” police said.

Australian authorities are stiffening laws and penalties for hate crimes after a December 14 mass shooting at a Hanukkah festival on Bondi Beach killed 15 people.

Rabbi Effy Block, of the local Chabad of St Kilda, said it was clearly an antisemitic attack.

“Thank God no people were harmed,” he told AFP.

“But this is a continuing escalation, where we see these events happening again and again,” he added.

“My Jewish community in St Kilda and Melbourne do not feel safe in their own homes and country.”