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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.

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