Australian police are investigating a “suspicious fire” after a parked car with a Jewish Hanukkah sign was set ablaze in Melbourne in the early hours of Thursday, raising concerns of a possible anti-Semitic attack.The empty vehicle, which had a “Happy Hanukkah” sign on its roof, was damaged by fire while parked in the driveway of a home in the St Kilda East suburb, Victoria Police said in a statement. The residents of the house were evacuated as a precaution and no injuries were reported.Images from national broadcaster ABC showed the car burned by the fire. Police said detectives are investigating and looking for a person who may be able to assist in the investigation. “Investigators have identified an individual who may be able to assist in their investigation and are actively seeking his whereabouts and conducting inquiries,” the statement said.Rabbi Effy Block of the local Chabad of St Kilda described the incident as clearly anti-Semitic. “Thank God no people were hurt,” he told AFP. “But it is a sustained escalation where these events keep happening.”“My Jewish community in St Kilda and Melbourne does not feel safe in their own homes and in their own country,” he added.The incident comes amid heightened concerns about hate crimes in Australia. After a mass shooting on December 14 at a Hanukkah festival on Sydney’s Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead, authorities have taken action to toughen laws and penalties, AFP reported.
