VANDALS targeted nine Jewish headstones in a secluded part of the Hereford cemetery – leaving families to foot the bill, which could rise to hundreds of pounds each, for repairs.

The vandalised headstones were all located in the hedged section for Jewish graves, and local Rabbi Anna Gerrard described as the attack as “very upsetting for the community”.

A police investigation was closed this week, identifying no suspects, and Herefordshire Council indicated that no increased security measures will be put in place to deter the criminals from coming back.

“I would be very surprised if the motivation was not anti-Semitic,” said Rabbi Gerrard, who works with Hereford’s Jewish community throughout the year.

“The Community Security Trust [a group that analyse anti-Semitic incidents in the UK] has reported that there has been an increase in anti-Semitic incidents of late.

“Certainly from the community’s perspective – given that there was a reason why the people have chosen those particular stones, and at a time when the Jewish community is particularly nervous about anti-Semitic incidents – I would be surprised if it wasn’t motivated by anti-Semitism.”

Letters have been sent out to relatives – some of whom live locally – informing them of the damage done to the headstones.

Seven of the stones in the section were pushed over, and the remaining stones were damaged by attempts to loosen them.

The cost of repairs to each stone will run between £100-£450 depending on the individual design.

Despite just one other headstone in the thousand-plus plot cemetery being damaged, the police refused to link the attack to anti-Semitism.

“I am very surprised by that,” added Rabbi Gerrard.

In a statement released on Tuesday, West Mercia Police suggested that the headstones were targeted because of their position in a “secluded garden”.

Jewish graves located in other areas, it explained, had been left untouched.

Chairman of the Hereford Jewish Community, Mark Walton, said it was highly unfortunate that the graves had been damaged.

He said: “I have heard about it, I have visited the talked to our members about it.

“As a community we will obviously see what we can do to help the families.”

The council’s bereavement services team leader, John Gibbon, said that this was the first instance of vandalism to the Jewish section, and added that vandalism at the cemetery is a rare occurrence.

Although the targeting of Jewish graves is rare nationally, is does happen, most recently with a cemetery in Manchester falling victim to two vandals this summer.

When it is accompanied by racist graffiti - often swastikas are spray-painted on the stones - it allows police to treat it as an anti-Semitic hate crime, and utilise greater sentencing powers.

Community Security Trust spokesman Jonny Newton said: "It is a particularly pernicious type of anti-Semitism, not allowing the dead to rest."