Vandals desecrated a Jewish cemetery in southern Hungary over the weekend, painting swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans on two dozen graves, a Jewish leader said Monday.

It was the fourth time in the past year that the graveyard in Kaposvar, 190 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of Budapest, had been vandalized, said Laszlo Rona, leader of the city's Jewish community.

For decades we never had any similar incidents, Rona said, adding that they were planning to release guard dogs at night to protect the cemetery.

A Soviet military cemetery and a Catholic cemetery in the area were also

vandalized recently.

Rona said that despite reporting the vandalism to police each time, none of the culprits have been caught.

"t seems that the only way to apprehend them would be to catch them in the act," Rona said.

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