Teen charged with destroying Boston Holocaust memorial

Boston police have charged a 17-year-old boy with willful and malicious destruction of property after he was caught hurling a stone at a Boston Holocaust memorial, smashing a plate glass facade after it had just been repaired, CNN reports.

Boston Police’s civil rights unit is also considering additional charges, according to the report.

The teen was tackled by passersby after being seen throwing a stone at the memorial and held until police came to take him into custody, according to reports.

A visitor to the memorial, located along Boston’s historic Freedom Trail, told the Boston Globe he heard the sound of glass shattering as he was reading panels at the memorial and later saw police make an arrest.

“It’s a reminder that we as a community need to be united, both in our opposition to all forms of hate but also in the important role that memorials play in our community,” Robert Trestan told the Globe.

The 22-year-old memorial was recently repaired and rededicated following an earlier act of vandalism in which one pane of glass was shattered, allegedly by a 21-year-old man with a history of mental illness.

The six-towered memorial, designed by architect Stanley Saitowitz, features 132 panels of glass etched with 7-digit numbers symbolizing the numbers tattooed on the arms of Jews during the Holocaust.

In a post on Twitter, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said Boston stands up against hate. “I’m saddened to see such a despicable action in this great city.”

— with JTA