FEARS are rising that hate crime could be becoming 'normalised' in Oxford after swastikas were sprayed onto a wall of a city community centre.

The Nazi graffiti was daubed on the Quarry Pavilion on Margaret Road on Saturday and has since been removed by Oxford City Council.

Other highly offensive graffiti was spotted in the city centre last month branding the Holocaust a lie.

Campaigners said people 'should not be complacent', and some have blamed visits of 'extreme-right celebrities' for emboldening those with extremist views.

Rabbi Eli Brackman, the director of Oxford Chabad Society which supports Jewish Oxford students, said: “This is deeply offensive and I'm very saddened to see this in Oxford, especially as someone, like so many others, whose close family members were killed in the Holocaust.

“More must be done to educate about the dangers of promoting and giving platform to hate in society.”

City councillor and diversity champion Shaista Aziz took a picture of the vandalism and posted it Twitter, writing: “Absolutely disgusted to see Nazi signs sprayed on a wall and building in Oxford.

“This is how hate crime is normalised.”

The equality campaigner, who works on hate crime nationally, told the Oxford Mail: "As a society, we cannot be complacent about this."

Slamming the graffiti as 'filth' she added: “I was horrified, they were painted upside down which shows the idiocy of these people.”

More abhorrent graffiti on a student poster was spotted last month by Sarah Mallet, who works at the Oxford School of Archaeology.

The word Holocaust was written over the top of of the poster, with an arrow pointing to the word 'lie'.

She said: “It felt shocking – we always hear that Oxford is an intellectual, academic bubble so you feel sheltered, but these incidents are becoming more common.”

She said that far-right figures visiting the city were giving the go-ahead to those wanting to vandalise posters with 'hate'.

There was controversy last week with the visit of Donald Trump's former right-hand man Steve Bannon to the Oxford Union, with reports of people outside making Hitler salutes.

City councillor Roz Smith said she raised the alarm of the 'sour' graffiti on Sunday morning, saying it was 'mindless'.

She said: "The supposed swastika is pretty awful. Given then this time of year we’re remembering those who fought and lost their lives in the wars.

“The rise of fascism started the Second World War.

“It’s dreadful. If that was somebody’s idea of a joke – it’s very sour.

“A lot of people were really upset about it.”

Oxford City Council removed the graffiti yesterday morning, and it has since been replaced with posters on nearby lampposts and boards by Oxford Stand Up To Racism, which say 'don't let racism divide us'.

Julie Simmons from Oxford Stand Up To Racism said: “Nazi graffiti creates a climate of racist intimidation.

“It is vital that it is countered immediately.

“It is good that Oxford City Council acted swiftly to remove the Nazi graffiti, but we need also to ensure there is a clear anti-racist message in the area too.

“We need to make sure that there is this rapid community response wherever racism and fascism raises its head.”

Dana Noamy Mills, a resident in Oxford and a teacher at Oxford Brookes said: “It is deeply disturbing and upsetting, both as a Jewess and a scholar of Jewish women, to see the normalisation of racism and antisemitism within the Oxford Community.

“Enabling and emboldening white supremacist language carries tangible effect towards residents of the Oxford Community.

“I am deeply grateful to the work done by Shaista Aziz on anti-racism in Oxford, but demand robust responses from all authorities to eradicate this kind of hate speech from our society.”

Councillor Tom Hayes, the board member for a safer and greener environment said: “Reporting matters, it makes a difference, and I encourage all residents to report graffiti, especially when it spreads hate.

“Symbols of intolerance will never be allowed in Oxford and the City Council is dedicated to supporting and protecting our communities. If anyone has information about who was responsible for this, we urge you to contact Thames Valley Police.”

Thames Valley Police are investigating the incident and are urging anyone with information to call 101 quoting the reference 41380353593.

It comes after the force began investigations into two men who were filmed appearing to make Nazi salutes in Oxford, during the protest against Mr Bannon’s visit to Oxford last Friday.

Videos emerged of a gesture being repeatedly made, as around 1,000 people demonstrated against the controversial figure's appearance at the Oxford Union.

The Nazi salute, which is illegal in several countries, could breach the Communications Act.

There is no suggestion that these incidents are linked.

Equalities campaigner Ms Aziz said: “We have no way of connecting these crimes together. But what we do know is that these incidents aren’t happening in isolation.

“Hate crimes do not happen in a vacuum. This is despicable.”