Paris Holocaust Memorial Tagged With Blood-Red Handprints

French authorities on Tuesday condemned a "hateful rallying cry against Jews" and opened a criminal investigation after red hand graffiti was painted onto a Holocaust memorial in Paris.

The attack comes amid an unprecedented surge in antisemitic acts in the country with the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in western Europe.

"The Wall of the Righteous at the Shoah (Holocaust) Memorial was vandalized overnight," Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a statement, calling it an "unspeakable act".

Around 20 of the hand symbols were found beneath the wall at the memorial in central Paris honoring individuals who saved Jews from persecution during the Nazi occupation of France in the 1940s.

May 14 marks the anniversary of the first major round-up of French Jews under the Nazis in 1941.