Police in London are investigating after a Chanukah menorah in the city’s Notting Hill neighborhood was vandalized by being doused with white paint last week.
The incident was reported to police on Tuesday and is being investigated as a possible hate crime, the London-based online newspaper Jewish News reported on Friday.
A separate investigation into the smashing of a Chanukah menorah in the northern London neighborhood of Muswell Hill was closed after a witness said it had been knocked over by the wind.
The Menorah has returned to Trafalgar Square for Chanukah.
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) December 20, 2025
Jewish Londoners and people of all backgrounds came together to reflect and celebrate Chanukah’s timeless message of hope, resilience and the triumph of light over darkness. pic.twitter.com/h0pdHkqgRJ
Separately, London Mayor Sadiq Khan noted that Chanukah celebrations were taking place in Trafalgar Square.
“The menorah has returned to Trafalgar Square for Chanukah. Jewish Londoners and people of all backgrounds came together to reflect and celebrate Chanukah’s timeless message of hope, resilience and the triumph of light over darkness,” Khan, who is Muslim, wrote on X on Saturday.
On Friday, Jewish News reported on anti-Israel graffiti in Tower Hamlets, an east London borough, where unidentified individuals have for months scrawled slogans such as “Israel kills kids” on public spaces, with no apparent intervention by authorities despite repeated complaints.
The graffiti dominates walls and other public-facing infrastructure near Victoria Park, Roman Road and Mile End, the report said.
It added that Martin Sugarman, chair of the Hackney Jewish War Veterans Association, has repeatedly reported the graffiti to Tower Hamlets Council and the Metropolitan Police. While the slogans are sometimes removed, they soon reappear, he told Jewish News.
