Synagogue Vandalism Considered Hate Crime
FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force investigating
Saturday, Jan 10, 2009 | Updated 9:10 PM CST
Three synagogues were defaced Saturday, including a brick being thrown through a glass door.
Police say vandals who set fire to a Chicago synagogue last month may have sprayed threatening graffiti on a north suburban Lincolnwood synagogue.
Officials on Saturday called both cases hate crimes.
Lincolnwood Jewish Synagogue security head Steve Kramer says caretakers woke at 4 a.m. to the sound of shattering glass. A brick had been thrown through the building's front glass doors.
The caretakers saw two men running away. They found the words "Free Palestine" and "Death to Israel" scrawled in orange spray paint.
Lincolnwood police say the same vandals may have thrown a Molotov cocktail into one of Chicago's oldest synagogues on Dec. 29, causing minor damages but no injuries.
The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is also investigating.
Copyright SunTimes
Posted Thursday, Jul 16, 2009 - 7:01 PM CST
