Santa isn’t the only one tracking who’s naughty and nice this year.
New York religious institutions have gone high-tech to track hooligans who steal holiday displays, slapping global-positioning systems on menorahs and Nativity scenes.
“We’re doing it to be extra cautious,” said Rabbi Shimon Kramer, of the Chabad for Jewish Life in Merrick, LI, where an 8-foot menorah has been outfitted with a hidden, black GPS device.
If thieves move the menorah, which is to be lit tonight for the start of Hanukkah, cops can trace it using a computer with satellite software.
“We can’t watch it all the time, so we thought this was a good way to protect it, just in case,” the rabbi said.
The local houses of worship are among 300 nationwide that are getting the GPS systems for free from Lightning GPS, a division of Brickhouse Security. The company usually sells the systems for $400.