SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Surveillance cameras captured an individual tearing off posters in the back of the House of Israel in Balboa Park on Monday night.
“The specific reaction, you know, people are appalled, Ruth Mastron, President of the House of Israel, said. “Two nights ago, we saw that, according to the surveillance videos, the posters in the back of the house were torn off by an individual accompanied by a group of people.”
The cameras’ time stamp at the House of Israel first captures the group looking at the posters at around 7:45 pm on Monday. They are seen returning to the house a little more than an hour later.
One of the men is caught on camera heading to the back of the house, covering his face and tearing the posters down.
“We are appealing to the public to step forward, identify these people. We turned over the video footage to the San Diego Police Department who are conducting an investigation,” Mastron said.
ABC 10News contacted SDPD for any updates or information that investigators could provide regarding the situation Mastron mentioned and the footage the surveillance cameras captured. But we haven’t heard back from the department at the time this article was written.
Mastron said the posters have since been replaced after they were torn down. But this isn’t the first time ABC 10News has reported on vandalism happening to the cottage.
“We’re not the only one of the international cottages that has had a broken window. That could just be plain vandalism, you know, kids messing around, who knows,” Mastron said. “This one where the hostage posters were ripped down that suggested to me there’s something more sinister going on.”
Following this latest act against the cottage, its president has a message to those wanting to rip down the posters.
“Shame. Shame on you. You should be ashamed of yourselves,” Mastron said. “I don’t care what your politics are. These are innocent people who’ve been held hostage for over two months now. You knew you were doing something wrong. You covered up your face.”
