Serb monastery vandalized with ISIS, KLA graffiti

Serb monastery vandalized with ISIS, KLA graffiti

DEČANI -- Visoki Dečani Archdeacon Sava Janjić said on Sunday the monks at the monastery were concerned over the graffiti sprayed on some buildings inside the compound.

They expected KFOR and the Kosovo police to implement better security measures, he said.

"We expect the Kosovo public and international officials to condemn this act and KFOR and the Kosovo police to implement better security measures," Janjić told Tanjug.

Graffiti reading, "ISIS - Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Caliphate is coming, Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and Albanian National Army (ANA)" were discovered on Sunday on some of the buildings inside the compound of this medieval Serbian Orthodox monastery protected by UNESCO.

The graffiti were sprayed on buildings that are 300-500 m away from the monastery church.

Janjić stated that the monks were shocked and very concerned, adding that they had faced threats, shelling and KLA graffiti before, but that this incident indicated a new level of threat.

"The appearance of Islamic graffiti, their link to the KLA and text that looks like an attempt at writing in Arabic in the area where we work every day shows that people with such intentions can gain access to the monastery compound," Janjić noted.

"Every measure"

Head of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Đurić has demanded that KFOR boost military protection of the monastery and that those responsible for spraying the graffiti be identified and brought to justice as soon as possible.

The disturbing graffiti inside the UNESCO-protected monastery compound are causing great concern, Đurić said in a...