A man wearing a hat professing his love for Jesus broke into a Virginia church on election night, and proceeded to rip up Bibles and vandalize the walls, according to a statement from the Chesterfield County Police.
Surveillance photos of the suspect were posted on the department’s Facebook page, along with a plea for help identifying him. The vandal appears to be a 6-foot white male, in his late 20s or early 30s, said a police statement.
“This incident does not appear to be random,” said the department’s post. “Once inside, the suspect…tore up Bibles, broke an interior window and spray painted walls.”
It happened about 11 p.m. Tuesday, at Ironbridge Baptist Church in Chester, Virginia, police said.
“It goes through your mind, what’s the next step with someone who is thinking that way and is obsessed that way,” Executive Pastor Dennis Green told TV station WMBF.
“The society, the world we live in is so divided and so venom-filled with hate for this group or that group. Christians aren’t unaffected by that, it’s certainly sad, but it’s reality we have to deal with it.”
The church was a polling site on Election Day, and Green told TV station WTVR that it’s possible the electronic system malfunctioned, leaving one of the door unlocked after polling ended.
The burglar found that door and “came through, just throwing pages, ripping and throwing them out as he came through,” Green told the station.
Nothing was stolen, adding to the mystery, reported TV station WRIC.
“When someone has that kind of anger….we take it seriously,” WRIC quoted Green as saying.
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