The vandalism of a kosher restaurant in DC is not being investigated as a hate or bias crime by the Metropolitan Police Department.

The front windows of Char Bar on L Street NW are boarded up after someone crushed them with two large stones early Saturday morningthe police said. The vandalism coincided with the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, also known as the night of broken glass – a dark moment in history when thousands of Jewish homes, businesses and places of worship were destroyed by German Nazis.

Saturday’s police report initially said the crime was being investigated as potentially motivated by hate or bias. However, on Sunday afternoon, a police spokesman told News4 there was no evidence to suggest it was motivated by hate or bias.

Owner Michael Chelst disagrees.

“It’s pretty clear it was a hate crime,” he said. “There are seven other places with glass on this street and they didn’t hit any of them.”

He said the crime took a mental toll.

“I feel bad for the people in the restaurant and some of the guests that come in,” Chelst said. “It makes them a little more nervous to come.”

A police spokesman reiterated Monday that the case may be reclassified if more evidence is recovered. The incident is being fully investigated with all departmental resources, regardless of the classification of the crime.

Being designated as a hate crime by the DC police would not necessarily mean that it would be prosecuted as a hate crime.

Guila Franklin Siegel of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington condemned the killing.

“For this kind of attack to happen on such a dark anniversary,” she said. “It’s incredibly disturbing to see it happen in your own community.”

The restaurant remains open, with many customers saying they stopped by to show their support.

“Our community is a product of its people, and I believe that it is through the actions of good-willed people — decent, good people who care about each other — that we preserve and lift up our community,” Franklin Siegel said.

The crime does not appear to have been captured on surveillance video, police said.

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