Police are searching for the person or people responsible for vandalizing a Holocaust memorial in Center City.
The first incident happened around 1:30 a.m.Sunday morning, surveillance video showed an unknown suspect walking up to the building located on the 1600 block of Arch Street where the Horowitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza is and spray-paint a swastika symbol on the building.
At 2:21 p.m. police responded to the scene for a report of a swastika symbol spray-painted on a wall of the Verizon building adjacent to the Holocaust memorial, police said.
According to the police, the suspect was wearing an orange mask and a dark jacket, possibly brown, with a stripe across the chest and down the arms.
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
Then on Tuesday, the monument was vandalized again. The bottom of the monument was littered with piles of trash, according to the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation.
Surveillance photos showed a suspect dragging trash toward the monument and dumping all of the contents around it.
The Philadelphia Police Department is investigating this act of vandalism.
The memorial is dedicated to those killed in the Holocaust and has been there for decades.
“This has been a sacred place since the 1960s,” Eszter Kutas with the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation said.
The Anti-Defamation League says antisemitic incidents skyrocketed 360% in the three months since Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel in October.
“We strongly condemn the disgraceful act of defacement near the Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza with a spray-painted swastika. This reprehensible act not only desecrates a symbol of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust but also highlights the disturbing rise in antisemitism plaguing our community. We must unite against such hatred, reaffirm our commitment to tolerance, and work collectively to eradicate bigotry,” Andrew Goretsky, Regional Director of ADL Philadelphia, said.
The Citizens Crime Commission is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Anyone with any information about the suspect is encouraged to contact the police. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 215-686-TIPS.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
