Vandals shattered the front window of a controversial church on Monday night, according to church leaders and grainy surveillance footage.
At around 8 p.m. Monday, a group of five people arrived in front of the Greater Church of Lucifer on Main Street in Old Town Spring, and one of them picked up a small statuette sitting on the church's front lawn and tossed it through the building's window, shattering the glass. The church has sparked intense protests since its grand opening on Halloween weekend, mostly because of the religion's controversial name, although church leaders say that they do not worship Satan.
The church has a few security cameras, one of which caught the vandals on Monday night:
GCOL HATE CRIME(Video Updated to show break of window)November 2nd 2015Our new building at 310 Main Street was vandalized at 8:18 PM last evening. Our security cameras captured the crime in process and the five responsible committing the act. We have notified the authorities and are working hard to resolve this issue. The front window of our church was smashed out by a large object thrown in plain view. We are committed to standing for our right to exist and will not let the actions of a few stop our church. We as Luciferians believe that all individuals no matter their religious affiliation have the right to exist on their path.We thank you for your continued support.Archons of the Greater Church of Lucifer
Posted by Greater Church of Lucifer on Monday, November 2, 2015
"We gave the recording to the police and they're looking into it," co-president of the church Michael W. Ford said in a phone interview yesterday evening. "We should have the window repaired sometime Wednesday."
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This was not the first instance of vandalism aimed at the church. Early last week, someone climbed a tree next to the building and sawed of a large branch, which landed on the roof of the business next door and caused minor damage.
The church plans to meet every two weeks.
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