(JTA) — A local teenager has been arrested and charged with vandalizing a Jewish camp in upstate New York.
Police found in their investigation that Christopher Santoro, 18, acted against Camp Shomria in Liberty, New York, out of “a dislike for the religion of the owners and occupants of the camp.” The State Police hate crimes unit has been involved in the investigation.
The camp run by the Hashomer Hatzair movement was broken into on June 12. Several of the buildings were damaged on the interior and exterior, and covered in anti-Semitic graffiti.
Santoro was arraigned Wednesday in the Town of Fallsburg Justice Court on felony charges of third-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime. He will return to court on July 5, The Times Herald-Record reported.
The 100-year-old camp bills itself as “The Kibbutz in the Catskills.”
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