Police in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, are beefing up patrols at Jewish sites in the city after a number of antisemitic incidents, specifically the vandalization of a local Jewish cemetery, local CBS affiliate WCCO reported.
Vandals had targeted the Chesed Shel Emes Cemetery, with its caretaker telling police Thursday that he found 30 tombstones knocked over, according to the Star Tribune.
Another incident in nearby St. Louis Park saw a local Beth El Synagogue close its preschool and cancel in-person Shabbat evening prayer services after a possible threat was received by the Anti-Defamation League, according to the Star Tribune.
Both incidents occurred during the High Holy Day period, taking place right after Rosh Hashanah and ahead of Yom Kippur.
Antisemitic incidents have been spiking recently in parts of the US. According to the FBI, Jews in America are the target of 58% of all religiously motivated hate crimes despite constituting a mere two percent of the population.
The data also showed that Jews constitute the third-largest target of hate crimes out of all minorities in the entire country – more than Hispanics, Muslims, Asians and virtually all other groups.
Only anti-black or African-American, anti-White, and anti-LGBT attacks were more numerous than anti-Jewish ones.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.