A man has been arrested on suspicion of defacing posters of missing Israelis in Camden, police said.

A 27-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday (October 18) on suspicion of an offence under Section 29B of the Public Order Act (use of words or behaviour or display of written material).

He was interviewed and released on bail to appear in court in January, according to the Met Police.

A Met spokesperson said: "Hate crime has no place in London and any incidents reported to police will be investigated and those responsible identified and dealt with.

"In recent days we have put in extra patrols across London where our communities feel vulnerable and these will remain.

"We want to ensure all our communities feel safe and secure, and urge anyone to report any suspicious activity to police immediately."

The Met said they have seen an increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks.

Between October 1 and October 18, Scotland Yard saw 218 antisemitic offences compared to 15 in the same period last year.

Similarly they saw an increase in Islamophobic offences from 42 to 101.

The Met said: "We know that there is trauma and suffering in our Jewish and Muslim communities at the moment, but we also know that division between those communities will not benefit anyone.

"There will be those who try to use this period of uncertainty as an opportunity to stir up hate but we know there are many more people – from community representatives to faith leaders to ordinary members of the public – who will not let that happen.

"As a police service we will continue to support and stand alongside them.

"We continue to encourage anyone who experiences hate crime to report it to the police. It is not acceptable and we will investigate," they added.

At a safer neighbourhood meeting at Hampstead Community Centre on October 17, acting sergeant Jason Vickers said reassurance patrols were taking place around religious venues and businesses in Hampstead.

He said:  "In this area of Camden there's a lot of people that will be affected by the situation in Israel.

"There's a policing plan in place where our Safer Neighbourhood Teams have been taken off day-to-day roles to carry out reassurance patrols."