BELMONT, N.C.,None — A church in Belmont is repairing damages for the second time in two months. Thieves broke into the education building at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Comforter and caused about $50,000 in damages.
Church members found the damage early Saturday morning and called police.
They said vandals poured paint on two pianos. They also broke out several stained-glass windows and destroyed a brand new copy machine.
In August, flooding and high wind from a storm caused $50,000 in damages to the education building. The church had just made repairs and members were planning to re-open before the latest vandalism.
"It's a terrible thing a pointless malicious act," said church member Elizabeth Bruchon.
Pastor Mike Varn said that times like these make the church practice their beliefs. "Our work is to try and work on forgiving them for doing this evil thing," said Varn.
Vandals wrote the numbers 3-16 on a wall in the building. Police said they're looking into whether the numbers are associated with a gang. However, they said it's not likely, because there have been very few gang-related crimes in the area.
They said the numbers could also be associated with a popular bible scripture John 3:16.
Police have not released any names of potential suspects.
Belmont church holds Sunday service after break-in
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