A MAN was seen acting suspiciously in a Southampton cemetery on the night swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were daubed on Jewish headstones.

Police have revealed a man carrying a blue bag had been seen disappearing behind the prayer room in Hollybrook Cemetery. The desecration was discovered by a dog walker in the Jewish part of the Tremona Road cemetery.

Police said a creosote-type substance had been used to paint swastikas or racist slogans on 11 gravestones. Six had been pushed to the ground. A witness has come forward to say she remembered seeing someone in the cemetery on the night of the damage.

Police today urged the man to come forward to be eliminated from inquiries. Officers were continuing to liaise with cemetery staff and Jewish community representatives to trace the families whose loved ones' graves were defaced.

Martin Goldstein, a leading member of the local Jewish community, said: "We are a small community and know in which cases there are family and in which there are not.

Every grave will be repaired, regardless of the circumstances. It is a shock when something like this happens. Southampton is not a racist city; we have an excellent relationship with all communities.

"There was a certain theme and it was not just haphazard.

"My question to whoever has done this would simply be: 'why'?"

A stonemason was being called in to treat the graffiti using specialist cleaning agents. Dislodged headstones will be reset in concrete.