A man scrawled an antisemitic message on the bright yellow OY/YO sculpture outside the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Old City shortly before 8:15 p.m. Thursday, according to Philadelphia police, who say the suspect then boarded a train at a nearby station and fled the scene. It marks the second time in a year that the museum has been targeted by vandals, and it has left local leaders demanding a stronger community response.
State Rep. Tarik Khan, who represents Philadelphia's 194th House District, witnessed the incident and reported it to police himself, according to 6abc Philadelphia. Khan said the vandalism turned his stomach, and that the community must respond collectively. He added that people should stand up when they see something wrong, and that the community cannot tolerate hate. Police say they have surveillance footage of the suspect committing the vandalism, and authorities are asking anyone with information to come forward.
Crews have since removed the graffiti from the sculpture, the station's report notes, but the episode reopens a wound for an institution that has weathered repeated attacks. In August 2025, red spray paint was splattered across the museum's facade, plaza, and an Israeli flag on two separate occasions less than two weeks apart, according to a report at the time by The Philadelphia Inquirer. One of those incidents involved a banner reading “The Weitzman stands with Israel,” which required professional power-washing to clean.
A Sculpture Meant to Bridge Divides
The OY/YO sculpture itself carries symbolic weight that makes the repeated targeting sting. Created by Brooklyn artist Deborah Kass in 2015, the 8-foot-tall aluminum piece was installed on the museum's outdoor plaza in 2022 and permanently gifted to the Weitzman in October 2025 by philanthropists Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan, according to The Weitzman. Its two-letter design displays “YO” facing Market Street and “OY” facing the museum, deliberately blending Philadelphia slang with Yiddish to highlight shared identity rather than division.
A sister edition of the same sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum in New York was tagged with pro-Palestinian spray-paint during a protest in May 2024, per the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Kass responded to that incident by emphasizing that the piece was created to highlight commonalities amid rising division, the outlet reported.
Advocates Call the Pattern Alarming
Andrew Goretsky, senior regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the repeated targeting of the museum reflects a troubling trend, per 6abc. He called the vandalism incredibly frustrating but not surprising, and said the rise in vandalism is alarming even as he insisted the Jewish community will not hide its identity. Goretsky said the Jewish community will continue to survive and thrive despite targeted attacks, and he outlined three steps to combat hate: individuals need to report hate incidents, people need to educate themselves, and leaders need to speak out and condemn the behavior. He also pointed to disinformation and misinformation as widespread contributing factors.
Statistics cited in the station's report show Pennsylvania recorded 80 vandalism incidents in 2025, up from 29 in 2022. Those figures track with a broader statewide pattern: according to the Anti-Defamation League's 2025 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, reported by the Times of Israel, Pennsylvania logged 281 total antisemitic incidents in 2025, ranking fifth highest nationwide, with 53% occurring in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and Jewish institutions targeted in 63 of those incidents.
National Trend Shows Fewer Reports but More Violence
The state's numbers arrive against a complicated national backdrop. Overall antisemitic incidents across the United States dropped 33% in 2025 to 6,274, driven largely by a 66% decline on college campuses, according to AP News. Yet physical assaults against Jewish individuals reached a record high of 203, and ADL researchers noted that 2025 was among the most violent years recorded for American Jews despite the drop in non-violent reports.
Under Pennsylvania's institutional vandalism statute, 18 Pa.C.S. § 3307, defacing or damaging a place of worship, school, or civic institution is a criminal offense that can rise to a third-degree felony if damages exceed $5,000 or involve intentional desecration, per the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Victims of institutional vandalism are also entitled to seek civil damages and injunctive relief under state law. Separately, state law under 71 P.S. § 251 requires State Police cadets to complete mandatory training on identifying and responding to ethnic tension situations, institutional vandalism, and ethnic intimidation, according to FindLaw.
Part of a Broader Local Pattern
Thursday's incident follows other recent hate-crime investigations tied to Jewish institutions in Philadelphia. In April 2024, masked individuals forcibly removed metal letters from the marquee at Drexel University's Raymond G. Perelman Center for Jewish Life, prompting a joint hate-crime investigation by Philadelphia police and campus security, as Hoodline previously reported. University and law enforcement officials strongly condemned that incident as an attempt to intimidate Jewish students.
The Weitzman itself has a resilient history that makes its role on Independence Mall notable. Originally established in 1976 as the nation's only museum dedicated exclusively to exploring the American Jewish experience, it reopened to the public in May 2022 with free general admission after a 26-month pandemic closure and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization that eliminated $30 million in debt, according to WHYY. Police have not announced an arrest, and anyone with information about Thursday's incident is asked to contact authorities.
