A swastika was found adorning the Tatler Arcade in the centre of the city among different swear words. 

With Human Rights Week celebrated throughout the state from December 3-10, Equal Opportunity Tasmania spokeswoman Leica Wagner said the symbol had no place anywhere at any time.

“The swastika is obviously highly offensive to some groups, and we would call on people not to promote that kind of thinking in the community,” she said.

“All people deserve to live their life with dignity and respect.

“Hopefully, council will remove it as soon as possible.”

While it has been used in a variety of cultures, the swastika gained notoriety prior to the Second World War when it was adopted by the Nazi Party and Nazi Germany.

It was the atrocities of that war which prompted the United Nations to create a Universal Declaration of Human Rights setting out universal values and a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.

Mrs Wagner said the question of whether the perpetrators knew the history behind the symbol was irrelevant.

“It may have been young people that did it, but it’s still the action, not the age that determines whether a complaint is made to us,” she said.

The Tatler Arcade has not been the only site within the state to be defaced with a swastika this year, with the Hobart University of Tasmania campus also plastered with pro-nazi propaganda in September.

An Australian White Power group calling itself the Antipodean Resistance was behind the posters, which they described as a “prank”.

It followed on from another incident in Canberra during August, where a swastika was spray painted in a children’s playground near the Chabad ACT Synagogue.

Members of the Tasmanian public and bystanders can report incidents of abuse or harassment to Equal Opportunity Tasmania via its website.

Anyone who has witnessed individuals marking graffiti in Tatler arcade should contact police on 131 444.