Madison police will not pursue February vandalism cases as “hate crimes” after several homes were painted with anti-Semitic images and words.

According to a Madison Police Department incident report, five teens were arrested for causing more than $30,000 worth of damage when they vandalized 45 homes, mailboxes and vehicles Feb. 14.

Of the 45 houses, seven had racial and anti-Semitic words and images painted on them, however MPD does not believe these were committed as part of a hate crime.

Police spokesperson Joel DeSpain said this is partly because none of the victims were part of a “protected class.”

A protected class is defined by the city of Madison as “a group of people defined by the law who share common characteristics and are protected from discrimination by federal, state and/or local laws.”

Some protected classes include Jews, African-Americans and newly added Atheists.

City’s homeless, atheists could be added to protected class list

DeSpain said MPD believes the victims’ homes were mostly chosen at random and partially due to their locations.

“The people who perpetrated the crimes chose the homes at random because of the dark streets to do things, as the Chief described yesterday, as ‘stupid,’” DeSpain said.

In the past there have been cases in which synagogues, Jewish homes and African-American homes have been targeted. In such cases, MPD arrested people for property damage and asked the District Attorney to prosecute the cases as hate crimes, DeSpain said.

Former alder Scott Resnick tweeted about the incident yesterday after the police released a statement to the public.

Resnick, a member of the Jewish community himself, said he was personally offended to see anti-Semitic words and images throughout Madison homes.

I am perplexed how this was not hate speech http://t.co/dIhTZoLgw7

— Scott Resnick (@sjresnick) April 15, 2015

Resnick said this was one of the worst incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism in the city in recent history.

Many members of the Jewish community were offended by the blatant anti-Semitism. He said whether it was intentional or not is left up for interpretation, but there was definitely outrage from the Jewish community.

According to the incident report, five teens were arrested for the crimes. Two were also charged with burglary after breaking into a garage and stealing a fire extinguisher that was used to cause some of the damage.

Though personally offended, Resnick said he agreed with MPD’s decision to not move forward with hate crime charges.

“The District Attorney, however, will prosecute according to the law, and justice will be served now that the perpetrators have been arrested,” Resnick said.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to remove the names of the teens accused because they were not convicted of a hate crime.