KINGS MILLS, Ohio — Volunteers helped clean "grotesque" graffiti off the walls of Kings Mills Baptist Church Saturday morning after it had been vandalized overnight, according to church officials.
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after the church on the 1600 block of King Avenue was found spray-painted with racial slurs, swastikas and other disturbing imagery on three of its four walls. Someone had also damaged a cross on church property, authorities said.
Investigators believe the vandalism occurred sometime after 10 p.m.
Church officials asked for "help and prayers" on Facebook, and volunteers including Queen City Mobile Blasting led the cleanup effort Saturday morning. The church held regular Sunday services.
"If you're local to Kings Mills - check your trash cans for spray paint of red and neon green," read a post on Kings Mills Baptist Church's Facebook page.
Pastor Rodney Hedges offered the vandals a message of forgiveness and an offer to come to the church.
“While somebody might want to be hateful, we’re not going to be driven by hate and that’s how we teach each other," Hedges said Sunday morning. "We’re going to encourage each other in that direction. We’re going to be driven by the love of Christ. And buildings are just buildings and somebody can always build another one.”
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office has not named any suspects as they continue their investigation.
