There’s been an apparent hate crime at a Battle Creek synagogue over the weekend. That's after a similar incident there six weeks ago.
In November, the concrete menorah on the front of Temple Beth El was damaged with a hammer and chisel. Sometime between January 5th and January 6th, the same menorah was damaged again, said Battle Creek Police Lieutenant Jim Martens. This time, with an unidentified symbol, and the letters L-I-E-R.
“None of the agencies or the experts we are in contact with recognize that symbol as being a hate symbol in any form or fashion. And then, the word “lier”, L-I-E-R, we aren’t sure if that’s a misspelling, or if it has meaning, because in a couple different languages it has a separate meaning. It can mean “to bind” or it can mean “to lie in wait”.
The Battle Creek Police Department is asking the public to call the non-emergency or silent observer line with any information.