Sukkah vandalized on Upper East Side ahead of Jewish holiday

NEW YORK - Police are searching for a suspect they say vandalized a sukkah in New York City early Saturday morning.

The sukkah was built Friday morning in front of the Chabad Israel Center located at East 92nd Street and First Avenue on the Upper East Side ahead of the Jewish holiday, Sukkot. 

But at around 1:23 a.m. on Saturday morning, a man was seen on video footage approaching the Sukkah and urinating on it before kicking it in. 

The attack continued until a Good Samaritan intervened and stopped the vandalism.

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"We have been in touch with the authorities who are investigating this incident, though we're not perturbed. We are grateful to the brave New Yorker, who demonstrated what New York is all about, standing up to look after one another," said Rabbi Uriel Vigler. 

A Sukkah is a temporary greenery-covered hut that Jews eat in during the holiday of Sukkot to commemorate protection while the ancient Israelites traveled in the desert from Egypt. 

"What the public can do to fight back against this is to find a Sukkah, wherever they are, and during Sukkot make a blessing there and shake the lulav and esrog. Sukkot is about unity, and this Jewish year is a Hakhel year, a year of gathering, underscoring the theme of unity, so this presents another opportunity for people to come together and do a mitzvah," Rabbi Vigler said.