The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

September 25, 2012

Vandals cover church with sacrilegious scrawls

By Joe Pinchot Herald Staff Writer

SHENANGO TOWNSHIP — Vandals used white and dark-colored spray paint to deface the back of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Shenango Township and a shed sometime within the last two weeks, pastor Randy Nims said Monday.

The damage was discovered Saturday by parishioners coming to worship service, he said, and police were called at 11 a.m.

“They just wanted to make a statement,” Nims said of the vandals.

The vandals wrote that the church at 1001 Wheatland Road is the antichrist and also spray-painted the number 666, a reference to the devil from the Book of Revelation, and other offensive graffiti, Nims said.

A swastika was painted on a satellite dish, and the vandals also painted upside down crosses, vulgar language and “a lot of anti-religious statements,” said Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Capt. Douglas L. Long.

“A lot of things I wouldn’t say and you probably wouldn’t print,” Long said, adding that the shed was broken into, but nothing was reported stolen.

Nims said he was last at the church Sept. 11, and there was no service Sept. 15 because parishioners attended a camp meeting at another location.

Long said police had no leads and the church does not have security cameras.

“They said there’s not a whole lot they can do because there’s nobody to look to,” Nims said of police.

Long added that he could not say if the vandalism rises to the level of a hate crime

Nims said he spoke to the congregation of about 30 members about the vandalism.

“I told them, things like this happen, but it’s not going to stop us from having our services and being able to worship and praise God,” he said. “There were definitely people who stood up and said, ‘Let’s clean this thing up.’ ”

Nims said he is waiting for the church’s insurance company to respond before deciding whether the parishioners will try to clean off or paint over the damage.

Text Only
Local News