A Christian monastery near Jerusalem has been vandalised in a suspected act of retaliation for the eviction of Jewish families from an unauthorised settlement.

The name of the settlement, as well as anti-Christian graffiti, was scrawled on the wall.

An Israeli rabbi visiting the site called the attack an “ugly event”.

Police say they have launched an investigation.

The Latrun Monastery is located on land Israel captured in the 1967 War and annexed – a step that has never been recognised internationally.

Security officials had said they were worried about a possible backlash after 50 families were evicted on Monday from Migron, near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The site was cleared following an order from Israel’s supreme court the previous day.

A vigilante group known as the “Price Tag” has threatened retaliation over any government attempt to curb settlements in the occupied West Bank. It sees non-Jewish religious sites as an intrusion.

Previously it has targeted Christian churches and, more frequently, mosques – seeking vengeance against government decisions it sees as against its interests.