Cincinnati
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Police are searching for two individuals accused of vandalizing the Cincinnati Hillel building located next to the University of Cincinnati (UC).

Photos of two suspects have been released by police who said that the incident at the Rose Warner Hillel House took place around 2 a.m. on December 4, WXIX reported.

Security footage captured two males vandalizing plant beds and throwing dirt at the building.

Cincinnati Hillel’s executive director Rachel Kaplan said in an Instagram statement that the vandals also destroyed spotlights and overturned garbage cans.

“I am saddened to share an incident that took place at Cincinnati Hillel’s Rose Warner Hillel House over the weekend,” Kaplan said.

“At around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 4th, two young men approached the Hillel building, destroyed plants on Hillel property, and threw dirt at our building. They also broke spotlights and turned over trash cans. The incident was captured by our security cameras, and the footage is currently being reviewed by the Cincinnati Police Department, who are working to identify the perpetrators.”

“This vandalization of our building has shaken our Jewish student community. Jewish students came to the building on Sunday morning with plan to relax and study for finals and found their Hillel had been targeted. For our students, Hillel is a safe space. It should remain that way always. It breaks my heart that our student’s sense of safety was broken,” she added.

Kaplan said that Cincinnati Hillel is working with campus and local police to identify and charge the perpetrators.

“In under two weeks, the Jewish people will begin the celebration of Hanukkah. Each night we add another candle to our Chanukah, progressively bringing more and more light into the world. Although the lights on the side of our building have been destroyed, the light brought into the world by the actions of our students and the impact they make on campus each and every day will not be diminished,” she said.

Students who witnessed the damage said that antisemitism is a growing problem on campus.

"I'm frustrated, I'm sad mostly for the students who go here who think this is a safe place to go and now all of a sudden it's taken away from them because of this situation," UC Jewish Law Student Association President Rebecca Davis told WLWT.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)