Minister angry at ‘unacceptable’ vandalism
Money to be spent renewing Banner which was cut up outside church
Published:
A BIZARRE act of vandalism at a Mearns church has been condemned by its minister as disrespectful.
In the early hours of Friday someone took a knife to a large banner, supporting the Stop the Traffik campaign, hanging outside Inverbervie Parish Church.
They cut neatly around the letters on the £60 sign, leaving a gaping hole in the middle.
The Rev Georgie Baxendale said the culprits might have believed they were carrying out a prank but their actions were disrespectful and should not be tolerated.
“I have been a minister for 27 years in different parishes and have never experienced anything like this,” she said.
“We have been supporting Stop the Traffik, which works to end the sale of people, for more than a year and the banner helps to promote our work.
“It has cost us £60 and now that money will have to be spent again rather than going to charity.
“The banner was certainly in one piece at midnight on Thursday but when I came in the following morning it was ruined.
“It’s very strange because someone has gone to a lot of effort to cut neatly round the letters – it looks like it’s been done with a Stanley knife.”
The minister said that in her two years at Inverbervie the church had been targeted on more than one occasion, with cars vandalised and a window in the vestry smashed.
“Churches are usually exempt from this kind of activity,” she added.
“The community here are wonderful and so supportive of everything we do as a church. To have one person do something like this is simply not fair and is unacceptable.”
A spokesman for Grampian Police confirmed an act of vandalism had been reported to police and would be investigated.
