Australian police are investigating a "suspicious fire" after a car carrying a sign celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah was set ablaze on Thursday in Melbourne.
The empty car, which had a "Happy Chanukah" (Hanukkah) sign fixed to the roof, was scorched by the fire while parked in a house driveway, images on national broadcaster ABC television showed.
It was set alight in the early hours of Thursday morning in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda East, Victoria police said in a statement, describing it as a "suspicious fire".
Occupants of the house were evacuated as a precaution.
"Detectives have identified a person who may be able to assist with their investigation and they are actively searching for and making enquiries into their whereabouts," police said.
Australian authorities are stiffening laws and penalties for hate crimes after a December 14 mass shooting at a Hanukkah festival on Bondi Beach killed 15 people.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the firebombing of the car "just beyond comprehension."
"What sort of evil ideology and thoughts at a time like this would motivate someone?" Albanese told reporters on Thursday.
"Thank God no people were harmed," Rabbi Effy Block, of the local Chabad of St Kilda, told AFP.
Since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, there have been attacks against synagogues, Jewish buildings and cars in Australia.
Christmas celebrations muted at Bondi
Christmas celebrations, meanwhile, were muted at Sydney's famed Bondi Beach on Thursday, as the community continues to grapple with the country's deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades.
Police patrolled across the beachfront in Bondi, a traditional Christmas destination, as hundreds of people, many wearing Santa hats, gathered on the sands.
"I think it's tragic, and I think everybody respects and is very sad for what happened, and I think people here are out on the beach, because it's like a celebration but everybody has got it in their memories and everybody is respectful of what happened," British tourist Mark Conroy told Reuters.
"Everyone is feeling for the family and friends who are going through the worst possible thing you could imagine."
Beachgoers were seen taking photos next to a Christmas tree while some posed with lifeguards, although windy weather conditions appear to thin crowds.
"It's not the best conditions for Christmas Day today, it's a bit choppy. ... so not ideal, but people are still here," Surf Life Saving Patrol Captain Thomas Hough said.
Flags flew at half mast outside the heritage-listed Bondi Pavilion building near the site of the attack, which police say was carried out by a father and son.
