Boston Holocaust memorial vandalized for second time

Boston’s Holocaust memorial was again vandalized, the second time this summer.

The New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston has been vandalized for the second time this summer.

Police said a 17-year-old smashed a glass panel on the memorial Monday evening. He was detained by two bystanders until officers arrived on the scene. Police said he will be charged with willful and malicious destruction of property.

The police department’s civil rights unit also is investigating to determine if additional charges are warranted.

It is the second time the memorial has been damaged in the past few months.

In June,  James Isaac used a rock to shatter a roughly 9-foot-tall (3-meter-tall) glass panel on one of the memorial’s six 54-foot-high (16-meter-high) towers. Isaac has pleaded not guilty to vandalism charges.

Erected in 1995, the memorial is designed around six 54-foot-high luminous glass towers, which symbolize the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, the names of the six main death camps, and the six years during which Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution” took place from 1939-1945.

Millions of numbers are etched on the glass, representing the tattoos etched on many of the victims’ arms.

The repaired memorial was rededicated in July.

The Jewish Community Relations Council and Combined Jewish Philanthropies released a statement late Monday night saying that they are “appalled and saddened” by the latest vandalism.

“We will remain resilient and will have a timeline for rebuilding the memorial once we have assessed the damage,” the statement said.

Mayor Marty Walsh wrote on Twitter that he was “saddened to see such a despicable action.” He thanked the public and Boston police for the “quick arrest” of a suspect.

By: AP