Anti-Christian graffiti was found Friday morning on a wall adjacent to a Roman church on Hahoma Hashlishit Street in Jerusalem in another in a series of hate crimes. The graffiti read "Price tag, King David is for the Jews, Jesus is garbage."

In addition, "Death to Arabs" graffiti was spotted on the door of a home and on an electrical box in the Old City of Jerusalem. The police opened an investigation.

Earlier this week, Israeli archaeologist Eli Shukron claimed to find the legendary citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem, rekindling a longstanding debate about using the Bible as a field guide to identifying ancient ruins.

In another hate crime attack Monday, "Death to Arabs and Christians and all those who hate Israel" was daubed in Hebrew on an outer column of the Office of the Assembly of Bishops at the Notre Dame Center in East Jerusalem.

The Roman Catholic body in charge of the Vatican's properties in the Holy Land on Thursday urged Israel to safeguard Christian holy sites, following such vandalism attacks on churches and monasteries ahead of a visit by Pope Francis.

Pope Francis is due to visit Israel, Jordan, the West Bank and Jerusalem, where he will meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.

The Israel Police and the Shin Bet fear that right-wing extremists might exploit Pope Francis' visit to the Holy Land on May 24-26 to carry out a major hate crime to drum up media attention.