Police are investigating after vandals sprayed swastikas, racist slurs and antisemitic abuse across a historic Anzac site in Albany, on Western Australia’s south coast.
The graffiti was found at the Plantagenet Battery, within the Princess Royal Fortress precinct, below the National Anzac Centre on Mt Adelaide Irrerup.
The ABC reported that swastikas, anti-Jewish abuse and references to Adolf Hitler were sprayed on rocks and historic battlements. Some of the messages included threatening sexual comments directed at Jews.
The Albany Advertiser reported that the vandalism was done in blue spray paint on the interior and exterior walls of the Plantagenet Battery, as well as on nearby granite rocks. It said the graffiti included racial slurs, numerous swastikas, references to Hitler and Jeffrey Epstein, and one tag that incited sexual violence against Jewish people.
Albany resident Emmanuelle Lamond found the graffiti while walking through the area with her boyfriend on Sunday morning.
She told the ABC they first came across one swastika before finding more as they continued through the site.
“They’re pretty big as well; they’re covering whole buildings, and they were pretty shocking,” she said.
Lamond said she reported the graffiti quickly because the area was public and easily accessible to families, children and Jewish visitors.
The Albany Advertiser reported that the City of Albany was notified about the vandalism at about 10.30am on Monday.
Albany Mayor Greg Stocks said the city moved to remove the graffiti as soon as it was reported.
“Albany is a welcoming and inclusive community, and there is no place for antisemitism or any form of hate,” he told the ABC.
He said the vandalism was completely at odds with the city’s values and was rejected by the community.
The site carries deep Anzac significance. Albany was the final departure point for more than 40,000 Australian and New Zealand troops who sailed for World War I in late 1914.
The Princess Royal Fortress precinct is also one of WA’s most important military heritage sites. The City of Albany says coastal defences were established on Mt Adelaide in 1892 because of Albany’s strategic role as a defended port.
The Albany Advertiser reported that Plantagenet Battery is one of two underground magazines below Princess Royal Fortress, built in the 1890s to store shells, ammunition, explosives and cordite used by the coastal guns protecting Albany’s harbour.
WA Jewish Community Council vice-president said antisemitic graffiti was always offensive, but the location made this incident especially painful.
He told the ABC the hill and the Anzac museum above it represented Australians who left to fight tyranny in World War I, while their sons and grandsons later fought the Nazis in World War II.
“To have, in Australia, that sort of graffiti is absolutely disgusting,” he said.
Lieblich said the vandalism reflected the rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia and overseas since the October 7 Hamas attacks and the war in Gaza.
He said police were working to respond to anti-Jewish incidents, but penalties for offenders were often too weak.
However, he said education remained the best long-term response.
“Ultimately, the solution is not fines and punishment and jail terms, but education,” he said.
Police are investigating.