A 35-year-old Toronto man has been charged after allegedly breaking into a synagogue in the North York district of the city and stealing religious items, police said, according to CityNews Toronto.
Investigators said the man entered the synagogue near Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue during the early morning hours of August 18. Police allege that he took several religious articles before leaving the area.
The following day, officers carried out a search warrant at a nearby residence and recovered all of the items reported stolen. The suspect was then arrested.
He faces charges of break and enter and failure to comply with a release order. He was scheduled to appear in a Toronto court on August 20.
The case comes amid a significant rise in antisemitic incidents in the Toronto area since the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in Israel.
In March, gunfire struck Temple Emanu-El in North York as members of the congregation gathered for Purim. No one was injured, but the synagogue sustained damage.
Days later, two Jewish houses of worship - Beth Avraham Yoseph in Vaughan and Shaarei Shomayim in Toronto - were targeted in gun-related incidents within hours of one another. Three suspects have been charged in connection with the shootings.
In April, a man allegedly tried to force his way into an Orthodox synagogue in Thornhill, north of Toronto, and assaulted a person before fleeing.
The following day, a rock was thrown through the window of a Judaica store in Toronto. It was the third reported attack against that business.
More recently, two locations of a Jewish-owned bakery in Toronto came under attack within an hour of one another.