Police said a 20-year-old Syrian migrant was assaulted late Wednesday in the northern city of Wismar by three German-speaking men shouting anti-migrant slurs and had to be hospitalized for his injuries. Rostock police said Thursday the incident was being investigated as a hate crime, and appealed for witnesses to come forward. The incident occurred days after the violent protests in the eastern city of Chemnitz that were triggered by the fatal stabbing of a German man there. An Iraqi and a Syrian have been arrested in connection with that crime. The Syrian in Wismar, a town on the North Sea coast, was on his way home alone when he was attacked. Two of the suspects punched him in the face and the third hit him with a chain on the shoulder and ribs area, knocking him to the ground before they fled. He was released after treatment for a fractured nose and bruises to his face and upper body. Both Chemnitz and Wismar are in the eastern part of Germany, where anti-immigrant pressure groups including PEGIDA and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party have their heartlands.