US VP makes visits vandalised Jewish cemetery

US Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise visit to a historic Jewish cemetery in Missouri state to condemn a vandalism that took place there, a media report said.

"From the heart, there is no place in America for hatred or acts of prejudice or violence or anti-Semitism," he said on Wednesday.

Pence called Missouri's response to the incident "inspiring" while standing next to Eric Greitens, the state's first Jewish governor, The Hill magazine reported.

Vandals toppled over 100 headstones on Monday at the Chesed Shel Emeth Society cemetery in University City, a suburb of St. Louis.

Pence decried the vandalism as "a sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil".

The vandalism occurred on the same day that 11 Jewish community centres across the country received phoned-in bomb threats, the magazine said.

The calls, which have all turned out to be hoaxes, have targeted 54 community centres in 27 states so far this year.

Federal investigators are looking into the threats.

--IANS

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