NL Times, woensdag 7 oktober om 19:30, 2 min lezen
Vandals paint Swastikas in anti-Israel flag protests across Nieuw-Lekkerland
Wednesday, 7 October 2026 - 19:30
Swastikas were depicted in dozens of areas in Nieuw-Lekkerland during the overnight hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. The imagery painted onto the streets was a direct distortion of the Israeli flag, consisting of two horizontal blue stripes with a blue swastika painted in the center where a Star of David would normally be positioned on the flag, the Reformatische Dagblad first reported.
The vandalism was discovered by people in at least six specific locations throughout the village, especially along the Lekdijk. Notably, the graffiti was painted directly onto the road in front of houses whose residents regularly fly the Israeli flag.
Authorities noted this timing was highly calculated to align with the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, with community members waking up on the third anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel to find their streets defaced.
The acts sparked immediate outrage within Nieuw-Lekkerland, and the wider Molenlanden municipality in Zuid-Holland where the village is governed. Theo Segers, the mayor Molenlanden, said it was “highly objectionable” that the swastikas could be seen in so many places.
“It is hurtful and completely inappropriate,” Segers said to ANP. Municipal cleanup crews were deployed immediately on Wednesday morning to completely scrub and remove the blue paint from the roads.
A formal criminal complaint was also filed by the municipality. The police have launched an investigation into the vandalism and are currently reviewing local security camera footage to identify the individuals involved.
The latest vandalism comes after a wave of swastika graffiti in Nieuw-Lekkerland earlier this year, when roads, traffic signs, bus shelters and other public property were also defaced amid tensions over plans for an asylum-seeker center. The anti-asylum protest group behind hundreds of Dutch flags in the village condemned those earlier markings. Similar incidents also took place in Engelen over the summer.
There have also been previous incidents involving the desecration of Israeli flags in Nieuw-Lekkerland. In August 2025, a home along the Lekdijk was splashed with red paint, with a neighbor saying the Israeli flag displayed on the property was believed to be the reason.
Nieuw-Lekkerland has also been the scene of prominent pro-Israel activities. In May 2025, a 30-by-20-meter Israeli flag was hung around the village's water tower in an event attended by Israel's ambassador to the Netherlands at the time, Modi Ephraim.