Polish prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they had opened an investigation into a far-right lawmaker who extinguished a menorah in parliament the day before, a gesture widely condemned by the political class, AFP reported.

Grzegorz Brown, a member of the ultra-nationalist Confederation party, used a fire extinguisher on Tuesday night to extinguish the candles on a 7-frame candelabrum, a symbol of Judaism, that had been lit in the lobby of Parliament.

His gesture was condemned by the main political parties and Poland’s new prime minister, Donald Tusk, who called it “unacceptable”.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the parliament’s office announced that Polish President Andrzej Duda will attend the Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony on Thursday.

In another statement, the prosecutor’s office said it had opened an investigation into the case and was “collecting evidence.”

Lower House Speaker Shimon Kholovnia, who temporarily excluded Brown from the plenary session, said the incident was “obviously part of the Russian agenda.”

This “act of absolute aggression, stupidity and atrocity that happened yesterday (…) clearly suits Poland’s enemies,” he added.

Poland is one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in its fight against the Russian army, and the new prime minister has called for more aid to Kyiv.

Marek Savitskyi, a deputy from the Third Voice bloc, which is part of the government coalition, told the national radio station that the incident in the parliament was not an “individual act” but “a mission dictated directly from the Kremlin (…) with the aim of influencing the image of Poland in the international arena”.

Brown, known for his past anti-Semitic actions and anti-Ukrainian remarks, was already subject to financial sanctions and barred from parliamentary sessions.

Deputies were debating the formation of a new government when an incident occurred that delayed the vote of confidence. Earlier during the debate, Tusk mentioned supporting Ukraine.

“It was a strong message to Moscow, and just a few hours later, an attempt was made to discredit Poland’s position in the world,” commented Pavel Koval, a deputy from the Civic Coalition of the new prime minister.