Reports of incidents of racist hate speech and xenophobic comments in person and on the internet have increased massively since the UK voted to leave the EU. Immigration emerged as one of the key themes of the EU referendum campaign, with those who backed a British exit arguing the bloc had allowed uncontrolled numbers of migrants to come to Britain from eastern Europe.

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The Polish embassy in London says it is deeply concerned by recent incidents of xenophobic abuse directed against the Polish community. Police said offensive leaflets targeting Poles had been distributed in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and graffiti had been daubed on a Polish cultural centre in Hammersmith, London. Both incidents were being treated as racially motivated hate crimes, police said.

IBTimes UK rounds up some examples of racist and xenophobic incidents posted on Twitter.

Picture from Romford today. (Photo with permission from the must-follow @diamondgeezer) pic.twitter.com/tsB56jAuww

— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) June 25, 2016

these cards have actually been put through letter boxes of Polish families in Huntingdon today. I could weep pic.twitter.com/P3maK1Vasf

— fencelt (@howgilb) June 25, 2016

Been standing here five minutes. Three different people have shouted "send them home". pic.twitter.com/cVvmYvC73o

— Ciaran Jenkins (@C4Ciaran) June 24, 2016

Immigration. Patriotism. Muslims. People explain why they voted #Leave https://t.co/M2JBQEbEAJ

— Ciaran Jenkins (@C4Ciaran) June 24, 2016

BBC News report today on rising tide of racism and hate Britons are facing after Brexit pic.twitter.com/V3Q3J4EN4h

— Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) June 27, 2016

"F*cking foreigner, go back to your country": just watched this outrageous racist incident in #Hackney https://t.co/87rqFKIhOv

— Shulem Stern (@ShulemStern) June 24, 2016

Polish ctr in my Hammersmith neighbrhd smeared w graffiti overnight. First attack in its 50 yr history. Depressing pic.twitter.com/1cfmQzMCEd

— Zanny Minton Beddoes (@zannymb) June 26, 2016

Some are saying the #Brexit vote was Establishment backlash but this bunch of tweets show it’s legitimised racism? pic.twitter.com/po21fImu1z

— Steve CK 🏳️‍🌈 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 (@politifuzz) June 26, 2016

This weekend I and my family have witnessed 3 "when are you going home?" Racist incidents aimed at EU citizens here.

— Adam Boulton (@adamboultonSKY) June 26, 2016

In utter shock: just been called p**i in my home town! Haven't heard that word here since the 80s..!

— Sima Kotecha (@sima_kotecha) June 27, 2016

So because I get on with my Spanish/Portuguese neighbours and wanted to remain in the EU I get this #brexit #racism pic.twitter.com/Nqv03WEepp

— John Young (@JY_Twits) June 26, 2016

Can we report these incidents to station staff, @BTP and https://t.co/wawz74L41H #PostRefRacism ^LR https://t.co/vLMeQ9XBno

— Post Ref Racism (@PostRefRacism) June 26, 2016

Follow the @PostRefRacism Twitter feed to keep up-to-date with this news story. The Stop Hate Crime website has useful information on how to report attacks.

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