Someone carved two swastikas and a racial slur into the greens at Yardley Country Club sometime over the weekend, gouging the symbols into the grass and a sand trap less than 100 yards from Abrams Hebrew Academy, a Jewish day school in the Bucks County borough. Yardley Borough Police are investigating and asking anyone with information to come forward.
According to the Bucks County Herald, the vandals dug the swastikas and slur into two greens and a sand trap sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. 6abc reports the swastikas were etched into the ground near the 10th hole, with the slur written in a sand trap, according to authorities. Country club officials said the damage was repaired shortly after it was discovered, and 6abc reports the investigation remains ongoing.
A School Community Shaken by the Discovery
Rabbi Ira Budow, who leads Abrams Hebrew Academy, said the incident shocked the nearby Jewish community, according to CBS News Philadelphia. The Jewish Exponent reported in January 2025 that Budow was in his 44th year at the academy, while CBS reported in September 2026 that he had led the school for 46 years. Budow said the swastika symbolizes the killing of six million Jews and 12 million people overall, and he added that he hopes those responsible can be educated rather than simply punished, per the same CBS report.
Abrams Hebrew Academy serves roughly 200 Jewish students, the station's report notes, and the school already keeps security guards on site. The Jewish Exponent has reported that the academy works in partnership with the Yardley Borough Police Department and keeps armed guards in its hallways, measures the outlet said parents and students said they were not upset to see. Following the vandalism, the school is spending additional money to add high-powered lighting and cameras, per CBS's reporting.
State Grants Have Already Funded Security Upgrades
The academy's security investments predate this incident. The Jewish Exponent reported the school received grants totaling $100,000 from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency for additional safety measures, and a state announcement from pa.gov said the school received an additional $25,000 through the Nonprofit Security Grant Fund Program to combat hate crime and strengthen school security.
Yardley Borough Council President David Appelbaum said the investigation remains active and that the incident does not reflect the character of the borough, according to CBS News. He said the people responsible do not speak for the community, adding that the borough — which maintains its own police department — is committed to ensuring residents and visitors feel safe and respected.
Civil Rights Groups Respond
The NAACP Bucks County Branch condemned the vandalism, and branch representative Adrienne King said it sends a message of hate and intimidation, per CBS's report. King said racism, antisemitism, anti-Muslim hate and other discrimination can affect residents' sense of safety and belonging, and she said everyone deserves to live, worship, work and gather in Bucks County without being targeted because of race, religion or identity.
The Yardley case follows other recent instances of antisemitic vandalism in the region. A synagogue in Wynnewood, Montgomery County, was targeted overnight with a red swastika painted on a banner outside its main entrance, according to NBC Philadelphia. Lower Merion police said that vandalism was discovered around 8:15 a.m. with no other visible property damage, and the congregation said its Israel solidarity sign had been vandalized twice within about a week. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has noted that reported antisemitic propaganda-flier distribution incidents rose to 852 in 2022 from 422 the year before, citing the ADL's audit, while the FBI has said destruction, damage or vandalism, along with intimidation and simple assault, remain among the most common hate crimes reported nationally.
For now, Yardley Borough Police say they are working to identify whoever was responsible for the vandalism at the country club, and authorities have asked anyone with information to come forward.
