This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Just before Hanukkah, the menorah outside a Salt Lake City synagogue was stolen and vandalized.

Sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning, someone took the menorah from its place outside Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, at 1760 S. 1100 East, damaged it, then dumped it nearby, according to a Facebook post by the synagogue.

The menorah has since been recovered about a block away, in a residential neighborhood, Salt Lake City Police Lt. Michael Hatch said.

"Someone who lives on that street woke up [Sunday morning], saw it outside," and knew it belonged to the synagogue, Hatch said.

The vandalism occurred the night before the beginning of Hannukah.

"What can you do to respond to this act of darkness?" the synagogue wrote on Facebook about the vandalism. The post invited people to come to a Hanukkah celebration that the synagogue has planned at the Utah State Capitol at 5 p.m. Sunday. "Bring a little more light into a world that so desperately needs it!"

The synagogue leaders believe they can fix the menorah, Hatch said.

Police are not aware of any surveillance footage of the vandalism, but are still looking into that possibility, Hatch said. The menorah is light enough that one person could have carried it away, the lieutenant added.

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