Australian authorities say they’ve identified a person of interest after a vehicle displaying a car menorah with a Happy Chanukah sign was firebombed outside the home of a local Anash family in Melbourne’s St Kilda East.

Emergency crews were called to Balaclava Road at about 2:50 a.m., where the unoccupied vehicle – fitted with a roof-mounted car Menorah with the words “Happy Chanukah” – had been deliberately set alight in a residential driveway. The flames spread close enough to the home that the mother and young children were rushed out as a precaution. The man of the house, who was out of town at the time, described the frantic moments: “My wife heard the car alarm go off and looked out the window and the car was on fire,” adding, “She rushed the kids out the back door.”

Police say they are seeking to speak with John Argento, 47, who they describe as living a transient lifestyle across Melbourne’s inner north and south. He is also the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant, and investigators are looking at whether the arson is linked to a nearby vehicle break-in reported about 20 minutes later. Forensics teams, including an arson specialist, are examining what’s left of the torched car.

Authorities have described the incident as targeted, while stressing they do not currently believe it points to a wider threat to the Jewish community. Speaking to reporters, Assistant Commissioner Chris Gilbert said “the most important thing” was to understand the motive and “make sure the community doesn’t live in fear as a result of this incident,” adding: “We look at it, and certainly, if it was racially or religiously motivated, we will follow that angle.”

The attack has landed with particular force coming so soon after the mass-casualty terror attack at a Chanukah event on Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025, in which 15 people were killed. The Melbourne incident has deepened anxiety in a community already in fear.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the arson as “beyond comprehension,” and in a separate statement said, “Australia’s Jewish community is in mourning after the Bondi terrorist attack. The firebombing of a car in Melbourne is another terrible act of suspected antisemitism,” adding, “There is no place in Australia for this kind of hatred and it has to stop.”