Vandals scrawl graffiti on Jerusalem Baptist church

Vandals daubed "Death to Christianity" on a Jerusalem church on Monday in the second such attack in the holy city this month, police said. The words "Price Tag", a slogan used by ultranationalist Jewish settlers, were also scrawled on the walls of the Baptist Narkis Street Congregation in a quiet residential neighbourhood in Jewish west Jerusalem.

"Officers are investigating a strong possibility of a (Jewish) nationalist motive but no one has been apprehended yet," police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld. The graffiti also included profanity about Jesus, and the vandals slashed the tyres of several cars parked in the church compound.

The "Price Tag" term refers to retribution settlers say they will exact for any attempt by the Israeli government to curb settlement in the occupied West Bank, an area Palestinians seek as part of a future state. Two weeks ago, similar graffiti was scrawled on the 11th-century Monastery of the Cross which is also in west Jerusalem but no suspect have been arrested, Rosenfeld said.

"Price Tag" attacks have targeted mosques, Palestinian homes and Israeli military installations in the occupied West Bank.