Chicago, May 30 (AFP) A man in the US state of Illinois was charged today with hate crimes and other criminal offences after swastikas were found spray-painted on hundreds of headstones in a cemetery.

Some 200 graves were defaced with swastikas drawn with black spray paint between Friday night and early Saturday morning at the Sunset Hills Cemetery in Glen Carbon, a small community near the city of St Louis.

The vandalism occurred as the country was entering the Memorial Day holiday weekend, which commemorates fallen American veterans. About 1,300 veterans are buried at the nondenominational cemetery.

Black-and-white security video captured the alleged vandal's image, and police arrested 34-year-old Timothy McLean.

McLean was charged with a host of criminal offences, including four hate crimes charges for the cemetery vandalism and additional vandalism on homes in a nearby community, police said.

No motive was given for his actions.

"We haven't seen anything of this magnitude in the 30 years that I've been here," cemetery groundskeeper Mark Johnson told local TV station KMOV.

Volunteers and cleanup crews restored the cemetery prior to a Memorial Day ceremony Monday, and planted American flags to honour the service members buried there. (AFP) CK

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)