'Beware of Jews' sign appears on London street

Police are investigating after a road sign appearing to warn "beware of Jews" appeared in the heart of London's largest ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

The triangular warning sign was spotted on Tuesday near a synagogue in Stamford Hill, which is home to 30,000 members of the Hasidic sect.

In a style similar to official Highway Code signs, it depicts the silhouette of an orthodox Jewish man wearing a traditional fedora hat.

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Hackney MP Diane Abbott condemned what appeared to be anti-Semitic propaganda, calling the sign "disgusting" and "unacceptable".

Members of the local community patrol, the Shomrim, reported the sign to Hackney Council and the police and it was swiftly taken down. However, volunteer Barry Bard told the BBC the incident has shaken the area.

He said: "The person who planned [this sign] has obviously gone to an effort to cause alarm and distress to local people."

Bard also said the people of Stamford Hill "are very sadly used to instances of anti-Semitic hate crime".

According to Shomrim's records, there were reports of 32 anti-Semitic incidents during a month-long study of Orthodox Jews in the Stamford Hill area, the London Evening Standard says.

The Yiddish-speaking Hasidic community in Stamford Hill is the biggest in Europe and runs its own private schools, ambulance service and volunteer security patrol.