NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Police are investigating after over 50 headstones were found knocked over in a cluster of Jewish cemeteries in Upstate New York in recent weeks.
The Rotterdam Police Department received a report of criminal mischief on April 22 from a representative of Agudat Achim Cemetery in Rotterdam, outside Albany.
The representative discovered that approximately 50-80 headstones had been pushed off their bases, according to police. The damage occurred sometime between April 1 and April 22.
An investigation is ongoing, and no suspects have been arrested, police said.
The affected area is used by four congregations for interment on Schermerhorn Street and was first reported by the Daily Gazette.
Jeffrey Handelman, a fourth-generation member of the congregation and past president, expressed dismay at the scene he witnessed and told Times Union that "With everything that's going on in the world. It seems like a manifestation of antisemitism."
Officer Patrick Farry, of the Rotterdam Police Department, told the Times Union that children between the ages of 10 and 16 often cut through the cemetery, and nearby families have been interviewed by police.
Farry stated that headstones were pushed over, with scattered garbage found in the area.
However, there was no evidence of graffiti or literature that would indicate the vandalism as a hate crime.
"If this is found to be hate-motivated or specific to religion, we would define it as a hate crime," Farry said.
