More than 100 Jewish gravestones vandalised in St Louis amid wave of anti-Semitic bomb threats

More than 100 gravestone at a Jewish cemetery in Missouri have been vandalised as 11 reported bomb threats were made against Jewish community centres across the US in one day. Police and the FBI are investigating after large number of headstones were toppled over at the Chesed Shel Emeth Society in St Louis in what was described as a "cowardly act".

Anita Feigenbaum, executive director of the cemetery, said they are working with police to identify which of the gravestones have been vandalised so they can inform the relatives.

Describing the scene, she told the St Louis Post-Dispatch: "It's hard to even express how terrible it was. It was horrible."

Governor of Missouri, Eric Greitans, said: "We do not yet know who is responsible, but we do know this: this vandalism was a cowardly act. And we also know that, together, we can meet cowardice with courage.

"Anyone who would seek to divide us through an act of desecration will find instead that they unite us in shared determination. From their pitiful act of ugliness, we can emerge even more powerful in our faith.

"Whoever did this slipped into a cemetery in secret to break things. We will stand together in the open to rebuild them, stronger."

The University City Police Department have not yet decided if they will be treating the incident as a hate crime.

The vandalism occurred as the White House condemned allegations that 11 bomb threats were made against Jewish community centres across the US in just one day, according to the JCC Association of North America.

The JCC Association of North America said the latest threats were the third "wave" following similar bomb threats made on 9, 18 and 31 January.

David Posner, the director of strategic performance of the JCC Association of North America: "While we are relieved that all such threats have proven to be hoaxes and that not a single person was harmed, we are concerned about the anti-Semitism behind these threats, and the repetition of threats intended to interfere with day-to-day life."

Responding to the claims, White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters "Hatred and hate-motivated violence of any kind have no place in a country founded on the promise of individual freedom. The president has made it abundantly clear that these actions are unacceptable."

President Donald Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, who converted to Judaism after marrying Jared Kushner, also issued a statement condemning the anti-Semitic threats. She said in a tweet: "America is a nation built on the principle of religious tolerance. We must protect our houses of worship & religious centers."

Trump was previously criticised for failing to fully answer how he intends to respond to the threats made against the Jewish community during a press conference.

After telling the reporter who asked him about the threats to "sit down", Trump added: "So here's the story, folks. Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism, the least racist person. In fact, we did very well relative to other people running as a Republican."