A Nottinghamshire church has been vandalised with swastikas being painted on the walls, and serious damage done to its community Peace Garden.
Church Warden Lorraine Smedley from the All Saints’ Church in Radford, who has worked with the church for 20 years, is saddened to see such a thing happen in her local community.
She said: “We are obviously distraught for this to happen.
“I was at the church on Sunday and I was shocked to see it in this state. I rang the police straight away as soon as I saw the damage.
“It’s dispiriting. We’ve put a lot of work into the church. I’m angry about the whole thing.
“I’m saddened anyone could do such a thing. We will be working closely with the police to try and track down the culprits. For whatever reason this person decided to attack All Saints. This is a community church, it’s their church yard, so they’ve attacked not only the church, but the whole the community.”
The Reverend Christopher Harrison, Rector of All Saints’ Church, was also deeply disappointed that a person or people could show such disrespect for a Church and its churchyard, including the painting of swastikas and an upside down cross.
He added: “We have no idea as to what could have led to this incident. It is possible that someone with mental health problems may have decided that the church should be a target, but whatever the reason, such damage and vandalism are never acceptable.”
Nottinghamshire Police was called at around 1.30pm on Sunday following the incident on Raleigh Street.Officers are now appealing for any information or witnesses.
Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Riz Khan is leading a team of officers as part of the investigation. He said: “Hate crime is not acceptable. We all, as members of society, should do what we can to prevent it – don’t be a bystander.
“We take all hate crime seriously and have a zero tolerance approach. If anyone saw anything suspicious in the area please get in touch.
“We were called on Sunday afternoon, but we believe the actions happened on Saturday evening. We have been busy trying to gather as much evidence as part of our enquiries.
“The local church is obviously distraught for this to happen.
“We are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious yesterday. It was obviously in broad daylight, so hopefully someone will have some information to help.
“We have stepped up patrols in the area to reassure the local community.
“If you do have any information, please call 101, quoting incident number 413 of 26 July 2020.”
