NEW YORK (JTA) — A menorah stolen from a New Jersey park was replaced with a larger one.
The previous menorah, erected in a public park in Haddonfield, N.J., by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, disappeared late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
The menorah was replaced by the local Chabad in time for a planned Thursday night Chanukah celebration.
According to the Haddonfield Patch website, Haddonfield Police Chief John Banning said he had no reason to believe that the theft was a hate crime. Rather, he suggested that the 6-foot-tall aluminum menorah may have been stolen for scrap metal.
There have been previous metal thefts in the southern New Jersey borough.
A nearby Christmas tree and Nativity scene were not harmed.
