Police are looking for vandals who poured over 2,000 litres of oil onto the grounds of a synagogue north of Montreal last month.
Damage to the Young Israel of Chomedey synagogue is estimated at more than $100,000.
The vandalism happened on Oct. 6 in Montreal suburb. A police investigation suggests individuals could have used a hose to dump the oil from nearby containers onto to the synagogue property.
The extensive damage puts the synagogue in a precarious financial precision.
“Our insurance just covers the first $25,000 for decontamination,” said congregation president Frank Cwilich on Thursday.
“But if the oil penetrated under the building, it could easily go up to $100,000.”
Cwilich admitted the 1,050-strong congregation can’t afford that sum and may have to shut down. He’s also not sure what sparked the attack. It’s the first time the Young Israel of Chomedey synagogue has been vandalized in its 50-year history.
“No one threatened us and no one claimed responsibility,” he said.
Police as well are stumped. Investigators met with shopkeepers and neighbours, but haven’t found anyone who witnessed the vandalism. They’re now appealing to the public.
“Some people are suggesting it’s a teen prank,” said Laval police spokesman Franco Di Genova. “But we have nothing to confirm at the moment.”
TATTY!!!!
I was cantor in the shul for 5 years…
its for sure not a rich shul…
all who could, should help!!!
so sorry
I don’t know where they got this information, but it’s full of mistakes! Overnight, On October 6th, someone took the garden hose, placed it in the shul oil pipe, and let it run all night. 3200 litres of water forced all 2300 litres of oil out of the tanks and onto the back lawn. They now have an extensive area of contaminated soil that must be cleaned up quickly before it spreads even more. At this point, they have been informed that their insurance policy only covers a maximum claim of 25 000$ for polluted soil and that all other… Read more »
they need another 75,000
who says they are well off?
There is no way teens are going to have access to 2,000 litres of oil to pull a prank. This had to be planned by some one seriously anti-semetic.
and if they don’t have 1000 members?
maybe you should ‘cough’ up the money instead
what a disgusting response! it’s a shul for heaven’s sake.
maybe thats including children
and they cant get everyone to cough up 100 bucks???