No hate crime to see here, folks.
The fire that destroyed a large menorah outside of a Kensington synagogue, just hours before Rosh Hashanah, likely started by accident, authorities said on Friday.
Police initially said the Wednesday blaze that charred a six-foot-tall wooden menorah on the front porch of the empty Chabad Lubavitch of Kensington on Ocean Parkway may have been a hate crime.
But the probe into the blaze that erupted 10 minutes after midnight outside of the house of worship between 18th and Ditmas avenues turned up no evidence of arson, a fire department spokesman said.
The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, but in the wake of the incident a department spokesman said that cigarette butts were found scattered around the menorah.
The fire outside the synagogue, which is currently under renovation and was vacant at the time, occurred less than 24 hours before the start of Rosh Hashanah. Celebration of the holiday that marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year ended on Friday night.
No one was injured in the fire.
