A rabbi has called for swift action after a swastika was found drawn onto a tree in Watford.

Ali Khimji was walking with his friend Zahid Iqbal around Whippendell Woods on Sunday May 23 when they saw the Nazi symbol on a tree.

The pair from Watford reported the vandalism on Watford Borough Council’s online reporting system.

The swastika is an ancient symbol adapted and reversed by Hitler to become an emblem of the Nazis and has often been used by far-right and antisemitic groups.

Mr Khimji said: “I was confused why someone would draw that on a tree and feel upset if they meant to portray some racist symbol.

“It looked recent and it was just off the path, and the side of the tree it was on was facing the path.

“We saw it as soon as we looked at the tree, so it was quite prominent, it was around 15 to 20 cm in size.”

Mr Khimji added: “It looked like a swastika, but I think it was drawn in the wrong direction from a Nazi swastika. 

"I know this is a symbol used in some religious traditions, so I wondered if it was related to that, but then I don't think people usually draw them on trees.”

Rabbi Mordechai Chalk, Rabbi at Watford & District Synagogue, said: “The daubing of swastikas in Whippendell Wood is shocking.

“Watford is a friendly and inclusive place to live with a diverse community including hundreds of Jewish residents.

“We hope the police and local authorities will take this incident seriously and deal with it appropriately and swiftly.”

Watford Mayor Peter Taylor added: "We take any type of racism or hate crime very seriously.

“Graffiti is removed quickly and I know the police work hard to investigate cases such as this.

“Anyone with information about this should contact police."

There has been a recent spate of antisemitic incidents possibly linked to renewed conflict in Gaza and Israel.

On May 17 a mezuzah was removed from the door of a property on the Farriers Way estate in Borehamwood.

A scroll within the mezuzah and the mezuzah itself were both destroyed.

On the same day, a mezuzah was also removed from a neighbouring property and remains missing.

In Judaism, a mezuzah is traditionally fixed to the front door of a person's home and is considered to be symbolic.

The incidents on the Farriers Way estate came a day after a video surfaced in north London of a convoy of pro-Palestinian protesters.

One man was heard to shout "f*** the Jews" and "rape their daughters" - language described by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson as "shameful".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently insisted that antisemitism will not be allowed to “grow and fester” in the UK amid a rise in hate crime incidents after the outbreak of violence in the Middle East.

The Community Safety Trust (CST), which gathers reports of antisemitic incidents, said that in the UK there were 116 recorded in the 11-day period from May 8, compared to 19 in the 11 days before May 8 – almost a six-fold increase.