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Headstones vandalized at Melrose cemetery, police say

MELROSE, Mass. — Melrose police are searching for three suspects who were seen tipping over headstones at the Netherlands Cemetery Thursday morning.

Just after 3 a.m. Melrose police were called to 38 Linwood Ave. for a report of young men vandalizing tombstones. A witness told police he saw three likely teen boys kicking over the stones before running away.

Two suspects were described as a slender white male, between 5’7” and 5’8” tall wearing a black hoodie and a black backpack and a slender black male between 5’7” and 5’8” tall wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and carrying a skateboard. They were seen running down Linwood Avenue toward Malvern Street. The third suspect is described as a white male with a heavy build who was wearing a black t-shirt and glasses.

The cemetery dates back to the 1800s and is the third-oldest Jewish cemetery in the state.

“They’re places where we come to respect the dead, not to desecrate their gravestones,” Rabbi Arnold Fertig said.

Police are looking into the possibility of a hate crime, but have found no anti-Semitic symbols or graffiti.

Anyone with information in this incident is asked to call police at (781)665-1212. Anonymous tips can be sent through the department’s tip line by texting MELROSE to TIP411 (847411).

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