Vandalism
A desecrated Memorial on a mass grave in the village of Gura Bikului of the Anenii Noi district in Moldova.
Several cases of vandalism were recorded in 2013, the vast majority of them were in Chisinau. On the night of May 9, unknowns have desecrated a monument to soldiers of the Great Patriotic War in Ohrei, by tearing off the memorial plaque to the fallen soldiers, whose names remained unknown. Memorial plaque, saying “Glory to Heroes!” was thrown by vandals onto a river coast.
In Chisinau, vandals had desecrated a monument to Victims of the Holocaust, located at Jerusalem Street. Unknown criminals painted an anti-Semitic inscription on the monument. Presumably, this act of vandalism was committed between June 2 and 5. Criminals drew a Nazi swastika on a memorial slab.
On July 7, a young couple of neo-Nazis posted photos of desecration of graves in the Jewish cemetery in Chisinau in VK social network Four cases of vandalism have been recorded in 2014. On January 3, unidentified vandals desecrated a monument to the fallen soldiers of the Great Patriotic War in Orhei. City’s law enforcement officials refused to conduct any sort of investigation to identify the offenders, because it “does not fall within their competence”.
The Walk of Fame in Comrat has been vandalised on February 27. Unidentified hooligans painted graffiti on a series of memorial plaques to prominent Gagauz activists that were installed in the autonomy’s administrative capital.
On May 9, National Liberal Party Vasili Sinigur drew a swastika and wrote provocative messages on the monument to Soviet soldiers in Chisinau.
On May 13, vandals scratched a swastika on a BMW X6. Owner of the vehicle believes that the attack was provoked by stickers on the vehicle, “Happy Victory Day” and “Thank you, grandfather for the Victory.
On November 20, 2017 it became known about an act of vandalism against a monument to the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin in the Moldovan city of Falesti. Vandals broke off the head of the poet's statue. In the photos which eyewitnesses have published in Twitter, damages on the monument and a pedestal are visible. The statue had its head broken off, which damaged the steps at the monument when it fell.
At the turn of the 20s of the 21st century, acts of vandalism in Moldova have taken on a systemic character. Since late October 2020, Chisinau has desecrated graves in the Jewish cemetery three times. The first incidents occurred on October 28 and 30. At that time, unknown perpetrators damaged 42 tombstones and vandalized another 30 or so with graffiti and Nazi symbols. In early November vandals paid another visit to the Jewish cemetery - the photographs on the monuments were disfigured again, some gravestones were broken, and swastikas appeared on others. Broken tombstones, mutilated photographs, and gravestones painted with desecrating symbols were the results of the vandal attacks.
In this regard, President of the Jewish Community of Moldova Alexandru Bilinkis has stated the following: "The Jewish Community reiterates its statement following the first response about the events at the Jewish cemetery which we published on October 31 evening. Vandalism in the Jewish cemetery is not a new phenomenon, but its scale in recent days has caused grave concern, indignation, and pain. Further inaction will result in the destruction of the Jewish cemetery. The short-term measures we expect from the government authorities are the immediate protection of the cemetery from physical attacks, an assessment of the damage, and the restoration of destroyed and desecrated monuments. In the medium term, clear actions coordinated with the Jewish community must be developed and taken to preserve the historical value of a monument of historical and architectural national importance, which is included in the Register of Monuments of the Republic of Moldova Protected by the State. We demand an investigation into the mismanagement of funds allocated for the rehabilitation of the cemetery since 2018, which we have reported to the law enforcement authorities and the Prosecutor General's Office, as well as the punishment of the perpetrators of vandalism."
After a series of attacks on a Jewish cemetery on November 5, 2020, the government approved a bill to toughen penalties for vandalism: Justice Ministry head Fadey Nagacevski presented a bill that would increase sanctions for religious intolerance on Moldovan territory. According to the project, it was proposed to introduce a fine for acts of vandalism in the amount of 750 to 950 conventional units (from 37.5 thousand to 47.5 thousand lei) or unpaid labor in favor of society - from 180 to 240 hours, or imprisonment of up to 2 years. It was also proposed that desecration of graves be considered an offence and fines under the relevant administrative articles were also tightened - from 18 conditional units to 36 (from 900 to 1800 lei).
"We condemn the acts of vandalism committed on November 2 at the Jewish cemetery [in Chisinau]. We need a tougher response to these crimes. We are a civilized state, and we honor our ancestors and all the people who lived on this land, regardless of ethnicity. Consequently, such cases deserve to be condemned and punished to the fullest extent of the law," - Prime Minister Ion Kiku said.
In early April 2022, vandals desecrated a cemetery in Falesti where 300 Romanians who died in World War II are buried. According to the police, unknown perpetrators painted swastika on the crosses. The incident was reported to law enforcement authorities on Saturday, April 9. Pictures posted on social media show that the crosses installed at the cemetery had a swastika drawn on them, as well as the letters "V" and "Z," which are symbols of Russia's military operation against Ukraine. The police were alerted to the incident.
