Slashed menorahs deemed hate crimes

A recent spate of attacks on Hanukkah displays, two of them in Gaithersburg, are being investigated as ‘‘hate crimes” and will be reported to federal investigators, county police said last week.

‘‘Montgomery County Police take reports of hate crimes very seriously and they are thoroughly investigated,” police said in a statement Friday. ‘‘In addition, reports of hate crimes are provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

The move follows two incidents late last month and another early this month in which vandals destroyed inflatable menorahs that were parts of ‘‘Chanukah Wonderland” displays in Gaithersburg and Rockville, and then damaged another menorah after stealing Chanukah signs from it.

Police learned Dec. 30 that a nine-foot-tall inflatable menorah displayed at 118 Market St. in the Kentlands had been slashed sometime between then and 11 p.m. the previous night.

The ‘‘Chanukah Wonderland” display was furnished by the Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue, at 11520 Darnestown Road in Gaithersburg.

Police then learned of another vandalism Dec. 30, this one to a five-foot-tall inflatable menorah at a second ‘‘Chanukah Wonderland” display at 5546 Randolph Road in Rockville.

That display was provided by the Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue at 11621 Seven Locks Road.

A few days later, on Jan. 3, police learned of another attack at the synagogue in Gaithersburg in which vandals tore down and stole two wooden signs attached to a six-foot-tall menorah.

The crimes may have been perpetrated by the same people and are being investigated as hate crimes, police said.