Stars of David painted across Paris ‘could be Russian campaign to stir up hate’

The perpetrators behind the Stars of David painted onto Jewish homes in Paris may have done so under Russian instruction, it’s been revealed.

A Moldovan couple who were arrested for producing the stencil used to mark the homes told authorities they were ‘acting under instructions from Russia’.

The 33-year-old man and 29-year-old woman were arrested after a witness saw them tagging a Star of David on a wall in Paris.

The couple had been living in France illegally, and have been transferred to a detention centre where they will likely be deported.

But another couple of a ‘similar background’ is being searched for by Parisian police, as a prosecuting source in Paris revealed the perpetrators may have actually intended to paint the stars as a sign of support for Israel.

The source told the Mail Online: ‘‘It may be that the stars were actually painted in support of the state of Israel as it fights Hamas.

‘The stars which were painted this week were blue ones, which look like those on the Israeli flag. They were not yellow ones.

‘There is no indication that any of the buildings targeted were ones actually inhabited by Jewish people – in this sense, they were just random walls.’

But security services have said the graffiti may be a part of a Russian campaign to ‘destablise’ France and sow seeds of anti-Semitism.

French state radio news said investigators are searching for the second couple, who ‘quickly left France’ after painting the stars.

A police officer told France Info: ‘It was like a commando operation.’

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said the graffiti appeared to be an ‘atypical case compared to other antisemitic attacks’.

The UK has also seen a spike in antisemitic attacks since the war broke out on October 7, with more than 805 incidents in the last month – an increase of 689%.

The number of Islamophobic incidents in London has also risen to 101, up from 42 last year.

Berlin has also seen Stars of David painted onto Jewish homes, in a chilling echo of the Nazi persecution of Jews in World War II.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Nazis would often mark the doors of Jewish homes and businesses with the Star of David.

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