ROME — A package exploded today at the Swiss Embassy in Rome, wounding one person, police said.

The Foreign Ministry called it a “deplorable act of violence” against the Swiss.

The explosion occurred when the package was opened by an embassy staffer, who was wounded and then taken to the hospital, said a spokesman at the carabinieri police in Rome.

A carabinieri official at the scene told reporters the staffer’s hands were seriously injured. He said authorities were still trying to determine to whom the package was addressed.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini condemned what he called a “deplorable act of violence,” and offered Italy’s solidarity with the embassy staff and the victim.

There have been growing concerns in Europe about holiday season attacks following a suicide bombing in Sweden and security services’ fears of an assault on a European city modeled on the deadly shooting spree in Mumbai, India.