When Sebastopol resident Dennis Judd heard about the vandalism of a fountain he commissioned to honor his mother, a Holocaust survivor who died in 2016, it was hard for him to believe the crime was a mere coincidence.
Behind the fountain, which was found toppled and in pieces at Santa Rosa Memorial Park in June of last year, was a mosaic that named 12 of his mother’s family members who were killed during the genocide.
Police have yet to determine whether the vandalism met the definition of a hate crime, but there were 25 other cases in Sonoma County last year that did.
That number was more than double the number that occurred the year before, according to data released by the FBI.
As police investigated the fountain vandalism, and two others at the cemetery, Judd focused his efforts on rebuilding the fountain.
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