The man responsible for spray-painting swastikas on several houses in the Flemish town of Denderleeuw has been identified and arrested but released under certain conditions.
Police managed to find the 61-year-old man following an extensive investigation, launched last week after residents of three houses discovered inverted swastikas spray-painted on their front doors.
On the first incident on 9 December, the man also painted the Nazi symbol on two parked cars as well as on a bread vending machine on the street, Het Nieuwsblad reports.
At the end of the same week, the man went on a second vandalism spree, in which one of the houses he targetted in the first incident was hit again after its residents had already removed the swastika.
Local police said the managed to identify the man after an intensive investigation, which led them to the suspect's home, where "incriminating elements were found," according to the public prosecutor's office.
The man was brought before the investigative judge and confessed to his actions, but was released by the judge under unspecified "strict conditions," according to HLN.
Denderleeuw Major Jo Fonck said the municipality "could not accept" the man's actions, which he said were "inspired by the hatred" of "certain groups" attempting to divide the local community.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
