A sign identifying the Chabad Jewish student center at Texas A&M University was vandalized and then stolen.
An unidentified vandal was caught on a surveillance camera kicking and knocking down the sign, and then returning to steal it, local media reported. The incident occurred late on Oct. 29.
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,” Lazaroff said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “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 10 years that I’ve been here we’ve never had something like this happen. This was damage, this was vandalism.”
A crowdfunding page was launched 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. — jta