SBT: Is it hate, or just hooliganism? For whatever reason, vandals have been preying on the Jewish Federation of St. Joseph Valley this summer.Officials at the federation said they have filed seven police reports in the past two to three months because of vandalism and graffiti at the center, located just south of McKinley Avenue on the city’s east side.
Debby Grant, the federation’s executive director, said there hasn’t been any anti-Semitic vandalism, and she is hoping the vandals are not singling the center out because of its Jewish ties.

She called some of the graffiti “horrible.”

“Most of the stuff has been more pornographic and gang symbols,” she said.

“I’m hoping these people aren’t anti-Semitic. I’m hoping they’re just naive kids with nothing better to do.”

The most recent police report was filed Wednesday evening after a vandal threw a rock that broke out a window. A vandal also threw a rock that broke another window last week.

“Those are the latest and most disturbing things,” Grant said. “Before that, there was a lot of spray painting, and a couple of memorial monuments were defaced with black spray paint.”

Grant said the vandals broke into a picnic shelter and set fire to the bathroom. She said vandals also have set fire to a day-care sign and burned it in the front yard of the building. There has been much graffiti written on the center’s walls this summer, and a brick wall by the tennis courts was knocked down.

Grant believes the damage this year adds up to about $5,000.

The federation did not file police reports on some of the other graffiti incidents. Grant said there were a few incidents last winter, and the center has experienced a handful of similar problems over the past five years.

Grant said the vandals have not gotten inside the building.

Employees of the federation were inside the building during some of the incidents. The day-care sign was burned in June even when kids from East Side Little League were playing baseball on the field next to the main building.

Capt. Phil Trent of the South Bend Police Department said he believes the episodes are likely connected, but did not classify them as hate crimes because there were no anti-Semitic messages.

“It may just be some kids that don’t even know it’s a religious place,” he said.

The federation has 13 acres of woods where a picnic shelter, softball field, basketball court and tennis court are located.

Neighbors have been invited to use the facilities for free for years. But because of the vandalism, Grant said, she will be forced to put up a no-trespassing sign.

“We love having the neighborhood kids,” she said. “That’s the unfortunate part about this. We’ve been here six years and always had an open-door policy. But we’re not going to have people back there until we find out who is responsible.”

Two weeks ago, the federation hired two off-duty police officers to patrol the area at random times. The center also has put in more surveillance cameras and better lighting, and has set up a security key pad at the front door.

“We want to catch the person,” Grant said.

The federation’s mission statement is to serve the Jewish people locally, in Israel and throughout the world through coordinated fundraising, communitywide programming, services and educational activities.