Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Police unable to find suspect in theft of plaque honoring Tree of Life

Officials say the Pittsburgh public school district has ordered a replacement.

Tree of Life synagogue
The Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where a mass shooting took place during Shabbat services on Oct. 27, 2018. Source: Google Maps screenshot.

According to a spokesperson from Pittsburgh Public Schools, the district doesn’t know who stole a plaque at Taylor Allderdice High School donated by the 2018-19 boys’ basketball team in memory of the 11 Jewish worshippers killed by a lone gunman at the Tree of Life*Or Simcha Synagogue on the morning of Oct. 27, 2018.

Law enforcement also doesn’t seem to know when someone took the memorial from the school in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the same neighborhood as the synagogue.

Officials say the school district has ordered a replacement. “We remain committed to honoring the victims’ memory and the importance of this memorial in our community,” they said.

On July 2, the Tree of Life synagogue received a bomb threat that the FBI reviewed and determined not credible. On May 17, a judge denied the request for a second trial of Robert Bowers, the man convicted of the 2018 mass shooting.

The Revolutionary Guards threatens Israel, the United Kingdom and the Gulf states.
The remains of Shimon and Rivka Herzl are to be brought from Belgrade in the coming days and reinterred beside the Zionist visionary on Mount Herzl.
The maximum number of reservists who may be called up will be reduced from 280,000 to 240,000.
An Israeli civilian, struck with a club, sustained light injuries.
The 1 billion shekel fast-track initiative gives early-stage companies an extra six months of operational runway to combat the strong shekel.
Barbara Butch was chased off stage in Grenoble, where she filed a police complaint against far-left figures who harassed her on stage.