Jerusalem man arrested for defacing women’s faces on billboards

An ultra-Orthodox man is arrested on suspicion of damaging billboards in Jerusalem that showed pictures of women’s faces.

The suspect, 26, from the south of the capital, is questioned at a police station on suspicion of defacing property and damaging property.

In the past two weeks, damage was caused to several billboards that carried ads with women’s faces, prompting an investigation, police say in a statement Wednesday.

In some incidents damage was done with spray paint and in others by ripping off parts the signs, police say.

Police say the suspects was arrested overnight after an undercover operation and was found to be in possession of spray paint cans.

Some ultra-Orthodox Jews object to photos of women in public places or media on grounds of modesty. For decades there have been repeated incidents of posters featuring women being defaced in the capital and other cities.

— Stuart Winer