Police searching for person who vandalized new Jewish Center in Decatur

On Monday, a detective was leaving after getting more information from Rabbi Avremi Slavaticki.

Slavaticki said he believes the building was vandalized because it is the first Jewish center in the area.

The rock was wrapped with a plastic bag with a note inside.

“At first, I wasn’t sure what it was. And then I said, “Ok, it looks like something was thrown through it. It looked like a large hole in the front window,” Slavaticki said.

Police said the vandalism happened some time after a women’s event at the facility on March 18.

“Obviously, at first it was shock and it was grief, and it was kind of like, ‘What are we doing here and how did this come to Decatur?’” Slavaticki said. “We do know anti-Semitism is on the rise everywhere. We see it all the time.”

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Police have not said if they are calling the vandalism a hate crime, but the rabbi is pretty sure someone targeted the center.

“It’s pretty rare nothing was stolen. Somebody throwing a rock through a commercial window in north Decatur, I mean, what else would it be?” Slavaticki said. “If I could speak to the one who did it, I would say, ‘Look into your soul and see the goodness within you. Let’s take the bad side and put it to rest and shine the light.’”

The center has added more cameras and more security in other ways you can’t see. They have stationed an officer on the property whenever they have an event, all things that make their members more comfortable.

Anyone with information that could lead to an arrest is asked to call police.