CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Police are searching for vandals who broke into a the outbuilding of a Chesterfield County church last weekend.
Police said the vandal or vandals made their way inside the Southwest Church of Christ on Courthouse Road by throwing rocks and breaking out a window on Saturday, Nov. 10.
Once the suspect or suspects were inside the outbuilding to the sanctuary, they turned their attention to destruction in the church office.
"It was all very surprising,” Danny Campbell, the minister at Southwest Church of Christ said. "As we walked in, we saw some foul language scrawled on one of the doors."
The destruction included two windows broken out with rocks and a damaged television set. Obscenities were scribbled around the office as well as soda spilled on the floor, leaving a sticky mess.
Campbell said the damage, which is estimated to be around $1,000, is an eye opener.
"It's more of a reminder that we're not as secure as we think we are,” Campbell said. "We were very fortunate it wasn't the building itself but this outbuilding, but since this is my office, that's a bit of concern."
Security will be now be re-addressed with the church leaders.
"Security wasn't really anything we thought about when we were kids at churches,” Campbell said. "Yet it's a topic in many churches now and ours is no exception."
Campbell had these words for whoever is responsible: "We cannot let this dilute our commitment to the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which would forgive, I believe the children that did this.”
If you have any information about the break in and vandalism, call Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660.