Chabad Sign at Texas A & M Vandalized and Stolen
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
— A sign identifying the Chabad Jewish student center at Texas A&M University was vandalized and then stolen.
An unknown vandal was caught on surveillance camer first kicking and knocking the sign down and then returning to steal it, local media reported.
The incident occurred between 3 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.
The incident is not being investigated as a hate crime, but the head of the Chabad center, Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff, told local news station KBTX that he believes the Jewish center was targeted.
“This is a very serious matter,” said Lazaroff. “This is a religious center, this is a synagogue and this type of behavior is something that is very surprising to me because in my ten years that I’ve been here we’ve never had something like this happen.”
“This was damage, this was vandalism,” Lazaroff also said, according to Chron.com.
A crowdfunding page was launched Sunday to raise money for what Lazaroff said will be a bigger and better-lit sign.
In August, a 13- foot, blue and white Hillel welcome banner was stolen and then later returned.
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