Dozens of headstones at a Jewish cemetery in the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia have been broken and overturned.
The Philadelphia police say this was an act of vandalism at the Mt. Carmel Cemetery on the corner of Frankford and Cheltenham avenues.
Aaron Mallin of North Jersey made the disturbing discovery Sunday when he came to visit his father’s grave.
“It’s just very disheartening that such a thing would take place,” Mallin said.
He says he knows this doesn’t look good, but is hoping that somehow this wasn’t an anti-Semitic attack.
“I’m hoping it was maybe just some drunk kids. But the fact that there’s so many, it leads one to think it could have been targeted,” Mallin said.
The damage is widespread all across the cemetery with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of headstones affected.
Mallin just doesn’t understand how someone could do this.
“It’s just very heartbreaking,” Mallin said.
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon released a statement on Twitter saying, “#Philadelphia Jewish cemetery desecration is shocking and a source of worry . Full confidence #US authorities catch and punish culprits.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia tells Action News they will be opening a mailbox at jewishphilly.org later Sunday to begin raising money to help speed up the repairs of the cemetery.
http://6abc.com/news/headstones-damaged-at-philadelphia-jewish-cemetery-/1774127/