Copenhagen buses burned in 'anti-Israel attack'

Four burned buses at Copenhagen Bus Company Arriva's garage in Oesterbro, Copenhagen - early Friday May 8, 2015 — Four buses were gutted by fire and another was covered in anti-Israeli graffiti

Four Danish buses were destroyed in a suspected arson attack that police believe may have a political motive.

The buses were found on fire in the early hours of Friday morning in Copenhagen. Another was found covered in anti-Israeli graffiti.

Last week, the city's transit authority ordered the removal of advertisements by a pro-Palestinian group calling for a boycott of Israeli goods.

The group behind the adverts condemned the fire, calling it "a criminal act".

Jens Moeller Jensen, a spokesman for Copenhagen's police force, told the Associated Press: "There could be a political motive. We consider this one theory. But we cannot link it to anything for now."

The advertisements were paid for by the Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association. It says it works "to influence the Danish public and the Danish authorities to do more for the Palestinians' right to self-determination."

Four buses at Copenhagen Bus Company Arriva's garage in Oesterbro, Copenhagen early Friday May 8, 2015 — The fires were condemned by a Danish-Palestinian association

The notices, placed on 35 buses across Copenhagen, showed two Palestinian women opposite the words: "Our conscience is clean! We neither buy products from the Israeli settlements nor invest in the settlement industry."

But within four days, the bus company, Movia, removed the adverts, saying they were "unnecessarily offensive".

Movia added that it had "received a significant number of inquiries regarding the Danish Palestinian Friendship Association's campaign against Israeli settlements."

The company received close to 100 complaints, most of them in English, a Movia spokeswoman said.

After the fire, Fathi el Abed, the head of the Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association, told the Copenhagen Post: "I hope it's not someone with a Palestinian background that is behind this.

"It's a criminal act and should be treated as such."

In January, a gunman of Palestinian descent was shot dead by police in Copenhagen after he attacked a synagogue and a free speech debate.

A Jewish man and a film director were killed and five police injured.