Obviously this shows that there are still people with these deeply racist views and their actions adequately display the need for the exhibition

Steve Cardownie, Edinburgh Council

The wall opposite the City Arts Centre in the Scottish capital - where the exhibition is taking place - was spraypainted.

A swastika was painted beside the words "Anne Frankenstein" and the initials BRI on the Fruitmarket Gallery wall.

The graffiti appeared days before Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January.

Anne Frank died, aged 15, in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.

Steve Cardownie, the executive member for leisure and cultural services, said people who wrote such slogans were "beyond redemption."

He said: "Obviously this shows that there are still people with these deeply racist views and their actions adequately display the need for the exhibition."

The exhibition aims to give an insight into the magnitude of the Holocaust and runs at the centre until 6 February.

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police said the matter had not been reported.

Edinburgh City Council removed the graffiti on Wednesday morning.