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JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Suspected Jewish extremists punctured the tires of dozens of Palestinian cars in annexed East Jerusalem on Monday in the latest so-called "price tag" hate crime, police and an AFP correspondent said.

The attack took place in Beit Hanina with Hebrew graffiti on a nearby bus reading "Gentiles in the country are enemies".

Police said the tires of 34 cars were punctured, but an AFP correspondent at the scene placed the number at 45, noting all four wheels of each car were slashed.

Residents told Ma'an that the damage was discovered at 5 a.m. as locals left their homes to go to work.

"Five settlers stormed the al-Samah square at around 2:30 a.m. coming from the direction of Pisgat Zeev settlement which is built on lands of Beit Hanina. Two of them positioned themselves at the main entrance to watch as the rest assaulted properties in the neighborhood," local resident Muhammad Abu Sneina told Ma'an.

In June, 21 cars were vandalized in a similar attack in Beit Hanina not far from Monday's attack.

Last month, the tires of 31 cars were slashed in a Palestinian neighborhood in the southern sector of East Jerusalem.