Churches vandalized Easter weekend
Staff writer
Members of two Tampa churches got an unpleasant surprise Easter weekend when they found both St. John Lutheran Church and Holy Redeemer Catholic Church were vandalized Saturday afternoon.
The Rev. Clark Davis at St. John said he discovered the damage Saturday afternoon.
“My wife and I finished setting up for Easter Sunday and came home,” Davis said. “I went over about 4 p.m. and discovered it.”
Davis said the first thing he noticed when he entered was that the chair lift was about halfway up.
“When I walked in I saw exactly what had been done there,” he said.
Blue tapes used to set off pews for social distancing had been used to make upside-down crosses.
“They did do some damage to one of our paraments for the altar,” Davis said. “It will have to be appraised to see if it can be repaired or it has to be replaced.”
“I’m almost certain it was kids,” Davis said.
A deputy was able to identify a couple of young suspects whose father sent them to help clean up the church, he said.
“Because of what had happened we did rededicate the church Sunday morning because it had been desecrated,” Davis said.
Monica Svoboda, a member of Holy Redeemer, said actual damage was not done at the Catholic church, but candles were lighted and items were moved around. Chalk was used on the floor, she said.