Residents have hit out after “disgusting and deplorable” graffiti including a Swastika was found on a Portland bus stop.

Southwell residents say they have been left feeling ‘uneasy’ after obscene and offensive symbols appeared at a bus stop near Wheatlands. It is thought youths are responsible.

Councillor for Tophill West, Charlie Flack, who lives in Wheatlands and has seen the graffiti, said it included a phallic symbol, derogatory remarks about women and ‘most worryingly’ a drawing of a Swastika.

“It’s disgusting and deplorable,” Cllr Flack said. “This kind of vandalism should not be tolerated at all.”

He added Southwell was traditionally a trouble free area and this kind of vandalism was a “cause for concern.”

Police have launched an appeal to find the vandals but as of yet no arrests have been made.

Cllr Flack said: “I have not seen anything like this for a long time. I hope the perpetrators are found quickly and dealt with – I totally support the police appeal.”

A Southwell resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said the Swastika symbol had made him feel ‘unsettled’.

He said he witnessed a group of about seven or eight youths, which he estimated to be aged 15 or 16 hanging around the bus stop just before 4pm on September 14.

He then saw one of them take out a white marker draw the graffiti.

The resident said there had been a few instances of graffiti in the past but the drawing of a Swastika “was a whole new level.”

“This is something we are not going to accept. This is nasty, it’s a step too far. Personally, it makes me feel uneasy,” he said. “The residents in this area are predominantly retired people – they rightly feel a little unsettled.

“Unfortunately the present generation of teenagers don’t really grasp the meaning of this symbol. Our generation didn’t live through the war but we heard about it first hand from our parents - it was a part of life. But for them it’s way more back in the dark ages.”

He added he felt the police needed to ‘nip this kind of vandalism in the bud’ before it became more prevalent.

“We have all these what I call ‘Westminster problems’ with anti-Semitism in politics and it just makes me wonder if it is spreading to the shires?

“We live in a pleasant, sleepy area. You get a little worried, if these sort of things are happening, where’s it going to stop?”

A spokesman for Dorset Police said they were contacted concerning criminal damage on a bus stop on Portland which included an offensive symbol.

Officers attended the scene and are making enquiries but no arrests have been made.

Anyone with information if asked to contact Dorset Police on 101, quoting occurrence number 55180149376.