The American consulate in Sydney, Australia was vandalized overnight Sunday, with nine windows being broken and pro-Hamas graffiti being sprayed on the door.
Two inverted red triangles were painted over the coat of arms on the consulate’s entrance by a person carrying a small sledgehammer, according to New South Wales police.
Hamas uses the symbol in video and pictures to mark targets for attack.
JUST IN: Police are investigating after the US Consulate in North Sydney was vandalised early this morning.
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) June 10, 2024
CCTV shows a person wearing a dark-coloured hoodie with their face obscured damaging nine windows with a small sledgehammer and painting graffiti on the door. #9News pic.twitter.com/pGtfSNPtCz
“I would just say that people should have respectful political debate and discourse,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a televised media conference from the capital Canberra.
“Measures such as painting the U.S. consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is of course a crime, to damage property,” he added.
The same building was vandalized in April, while the American mission in Melbourne was graffitied by pro-Hamas demonstrators in May.
On Wednesday, a member of the “local guard force” at the heavily fotified U.S. Embassy in Beirut was seriously injured in a “shooting incident” outside the mission.
“We are aware that the individual who was arrested was wearing what appeared to be ISIS insignia, but we are conducting a full investigation with the Lebanese authorities on the actual motivations,” said U.S. State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller.
According to Arabic-language reports, three gunmen fired on the embassy, although Miller declined to comment on the number of shooters.
Local media reported the gunfight lasted for almost half an hour.
