Vandal caught on camera shattering windows of historic home in Society Hill

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A handful of historic, custom windows were destroyed at the Hill-Physick House in Philadelphia's Society Hill neighborhood on Sunday.

Surveillance cameras captured the late night vandalism that's left a small nonprofit literally picking up the pieces.

"He grabbed a loose brick off the sidewalk and chucked it at one of the windows and casually strolled by, and grabbed another brick and went to the front of the building," said Kayla Anthony, Executive Director for the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks.

Anthony says the nonprofit is now working to replace a handful of shattered windows, including a large one in the dining room on the 4th Street side of the house.

The historic site was the 18th century home of Dr. Phillip Physick, known as the Father of American Surgery.

The nonprofit says they're lucky this wasn't worse.

"Fortunately, we have interior shutters so they were closed, which helped protect some of the collection," said Anthony. "We were really relieved that none of those artifacts were destroyed last night."

In December 2022, an arsonist set fire to the historic Carpenter's Hall in Old City. This latest incident has left the community unnerved.

There's no timeline on how long window replacements will take and it's not clear if the vandalism was targeted or random.

The damage is estimated to be around $5,000 to $10,000.

If you are interested in helping to raise money for the replacement windows, CLICK HERE.