Unknown attackers have devastated a historic Jewish cemetery in Bavaria. The vandals overturned about 60 headstones, irreparably damaging half, police said Monday.

The cemetery, which dates back to the 18th century, is no longer used for burials. It is located on a hill on the outskirts of the village of Diespeck near Nuremberg. The damage was recently discovered by a local warden but could have been done at any point since the end of January, police said.

As part of the attack, the perpetrators overturned 11 headstones at a war memorial in the cemetery grounds dedicated to German soldiers of the Jewish faith who were killed in action in World War I, Bavarian police said in a statement.

"The material damage amounts to several tens of thousands of euros according to initial estimates but the loss of historical cultural heritage weighs much more heavily," the statement said.

However police said the damage may have been simple vandalism rather than being the work of far-right extremists because no Nazi symbols were found daubed on the headstones.

Reports of attacks on Jewish cemeteries are not uncommon in Germany, where synagogues and other Jewish institutions are often under 24-hour police guard.

In 2005, the domestic intelligence agency recorded 15,361 criminal acts believed to be connected with the far-right. Most of those crimes concerned the use of banned Nazi symbols such as the swastika. Last week a Jewish kindergarten in Berlin was targeted in an anti-Semitic attack which shocked Germany.