Numerous headstones were toppled over in a Jewish cemetery in Rochester this morning, the third such instance of vandalism at a Jewish cemetery in the last two weeks.

WHEC in Rochester initially reported that five headstones were found knocked over at the Stone Road Cemetery this morning, and then upped the amount to sixteen. Rochester Police are investigating the incident.

The president of the non-profit that oversees the cemetery, Michael Phillips, told the Democrat & Chronicle that he didn't want to jump to conclusions about why the headstones were pushed over. "I don't want to label it a hate crime. I don't think there's any proof of that. I don't want to label it anti-Semitism. I don't think there's any proof of that." Phillips suggested there might not have been an anti-Semitic connection because the graves weren't otherwise defaced, as they were in the previous incidents elsewhere.

The Rochester desecration follows the vandalism of over 75 headstones at a Philadelphia Jewish cemetery this weekend, which came a week after almost 200 gravestones were defaced at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis. And all of this takes place in an atmosphere where swastika sightings are up in the city and around the country.

Governor Cuomo directed the New York State Police to investigate the Stone Road cemetery gravestones being toppled over in a statement he released to the media today:

A number of headstones were recently vandalized and toppled over at Waad Hakolel Cemetery in Rochester. Given the wave of bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and disturbing vandalism at Jewish cemeteries nationwide, I am directing the State Police to immediately launch a full investigation into this matter.

New York has zero tolerance for bias or discrimination of any kind, and we will always stand united in the face of anti-Semitism and divisiveness. It is repugnant to everything we believe as New Yorkers, and we will continue to do everything in our power to bring to justice those responsible for these cowardly attacks on the values we hold dear.

In addition to Cuomo's statements, Senator Chuck Schumer has called on the FCC to give Jewish Community Centers around the country special waivers to track threatening phone calls, in the wake of a series of bomb threats directed at JCCs around the country since the beginning of the year.

As for President Trump, he and his advisors spent the last couple of days cautioning everyone not to jump to conclusions and to focus on what's important. Trump told a meeting of state attorneys general that bomb threats against JCCs nationwide might have been done in order to "make others look bad," a statement which baffled the Pennsylvania state attorney general. Trump advisor Anthony Scaramucci tweeted a reminder that some Democratic activists engaged in "bird dogging" during the 2016 election, a tactic that's generally understood to mean aggressive questioning of elected officials, as proof that...maybe liberals are behind this? Typical of a coward who's "just raising questions," Scaramucci later tweeted that he just didn't want anyone to overreact and of course he Loves The Jews.