Suburban Chicago public menorah vandalized

Police probing possible hate crime which local rabbi calls ‘incredibly disheartening’

A six-foot-tall Hanukkah menorah in Evanston, Illinois has been vandalized.

The damage to the electric menorah is being investigated as a possible hate crime, Chicago’s CBS Local reported Thursday.

The menorah stands outside a facility run by the Chicago Mitzvah Campaign, a Chabad group that provides services to Jewish patients, visitors and staff members of nearby hospitals.

“The menorah’s lights were smashed and the switches were all ripped out,” Director Rabbi Aron Wolf said, according to CBS Local. “This wanton destruction of property is incredibly disheartening, and especially at this time of year, when we should be recognizing everyone’s right to celebrate holidays in a spirit of brotherhood and goodwill.”