For weeks, members of a small Christian community in Jerusalem’s Old City say they have been under pressure from what they say is growing harassment and intimidation from violent Jewish ultranationalists, AFP reports.

Earlier this month, a man later identified by church authorities as a Jewish radical was knocked to the ground and detained after he allegedly damaged a statue of Jesus in the Church of the Scourge. The church stands on the spot where Christ is believed to have taken the cross upon his back after being condemned to death by crucifixion.

“This is a church that commemorates the suffering of Jesus, and to do it right here is something very bad,” said Father Eugenio Alliata, in charge of archaeological collections at the Terra Sancta museum.

The incident followed a series of other incidents, including one in early January when “Death to Armenians” and “Death to Christians” were graffitied in Hebrew on the walls of the Armenian monastery of St. James.

“In the last two months, I would say, since the new government took office, these kinds of attacks have become very, very common,” said Miran Krikorian, a restaurant owner in the Old City. “And the problem is that we feel like there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Israeli police said they had stepped up patrols around Christian sites in Jerusalem after churches reported violence by Jews following the inauguration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

In addition to the desecration of the statue, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Latin Rite office of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem, said at least four other incidents of vandalism or violent harassment had been reported.

In one of them, a group of religious Jews threw chairs and tables into an area near the headquarters of the Custody of the Holy Land, creating a “battlefield” in the Christian quarter. In another incident, a Christian cemetery in Jerusalem was vandalized, she said.

A spokesman for Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultra-nationalist Jewish settler in charge of policing in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s six-week-old coalition, could not be reached for comment, though both men vowed to protect all citizens.

“When there is no strong reaction from the government, it not only encourages these people to behave in the same way, but also gives us the feeling that the government wants to treat Christian minorities this way,” said Father Agan Hogchian, chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem.

Police said the American suspect had been referred for a psychiatric evaluation before possible deportation for vandalizing the statue.

Police did not directly respond to allegations of an increase in anti-Christian incidents when asked by Reuters. But they said arrests and charges have been made in all of the cases cited.

“Various police patrols” were involved in “enhanced operations around the Old City, places of worship and sacred sites to maintain security, public order and religious freedom for all,” the police said in a statement.

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