Anti-Religious Vandalism in Mission Viejo

I never thought our sleepy little town would become a hotbed of anti-religious vandalism, but we've had three incidents in the last couple of weeks. We recently had two baby Jesus figurines stolen in the same night from a nativity scenes in a neighborhood near us, and the latest incident was the destruction of a menorah in Ladera Ranch, a community within Mission Viejo.

A menorah lighting is scheduled to go on here tonight despite the destruction of a large community menorah over the weekend.

Police said they were investigating the vandalism as a hate crime, but they did not have any suspects.

Ladera Ranch resident Robert Cohen, 44, built the menorah four years ago as part of the community's festivities on the Town Green at Mercantile Way and Sienna Parkway. Each year about 200 residents gather for a menorah-lighting ceremony.
"This is not just something that happens to the Jewish community," Cohen said. "When something like this happens, it happens to the community as a whole."

The menorah was destroyed late Friday or early Saturday morning. The 15-foot-tall structure was made of steel tubing and weighed about 150 pounds.

It was sawed off at the base and fell to the ground. Shards of glass from the broken light bulbs on top of the menorah were scattered on the lawn where it once stood. It was unclear whether the bulbs were smashed or if they broke from the force of the fall.

I'm really sorry to see this kind of stuff going on in Mission Viejo. For years we've had religious displays on a central corner in town (photos here) and as far as I know, we've never had a problem there. The acts described above are probably just the work of some local idiots and probably not what you would classically call a "hate crime". Let's hope so.