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ELPD investigating destruction of MSU Hillel's Sukkah over the weekend

October 22, 2019
<p><em>MSU HILLEL</em></p>

MSU HILLEL

On Saturday around 1 a.m., two men trespassed on the property of MSU Hillel and destroyed their Sukkah.

It wasn’t until Monday morning when Associate Director Jonathon Koenigsberg arrived for his shift at Hillel that he noticed the destruction.

Koenigsberg said it had prompted him and his coworkers to take action, going back and rewinding through their security cameras.

The footage they found showed the two men breaking into the patio of Hillel and vandalizing the Sukkah that had been built for use during the current, week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot.

“They looked like they were probably intoxicated or under the influence of something," Koenigsberg said.

MSU Hillel employees were able to catch the faces of the men who allegedly committed this act of vandalism and called East Lansing Police Department (ELPD) to report the incident. ELPD is now investigating the situation.

ELPD encouraged MSU Hillel to post the incident on Facebook to alert the community and pick up any anonymous tips and knowledge they could to help move the investigation along.

Their post drew over 70,000 views and 750 shares.

“That seems like a lot of attention on social media for this ... unfortunate event,” Koenigsberg said.

There were no racist, anti-Semitic messages left behind. The purpose of the vandalism is unknown at this time.

On Monday, there was a breakthrough and MSU Hillel believes the suspects have been identified. The information has been passed on to law enforcement.

This is still an open police investigation under the ELPD jurisdiction. Koenigsberg and his team are managing to find a silver lining in this time. The damage has since been cleaned up.

This is a developing story. In our reporting, we'll focus on credible information from officials and other authorities and do our best to correct any inaccuracies. We'll continue to update this story, check back for more updates and keep up with us on Twitter @thesnews.

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