Police are searching for at least one suspect who spray painted a swastika on a church in Redlands over the weekend.
Police responded Saturday morning, April 12, and found a large swastika spray painted on the sign in front of The ARK Church of the Nazarene, at 1307 E. Citrus Ave., said Carl Baker, a spokesperson for Redlands police.
Jennifer Hayhurst, 48, was driving her son to track practice at around 8 a.m. Saturday when she saw the swastika on the front of her local church.
“That symbol has no place in my community,” she said.
Police are investigating the vandalism, but no arrests had been made. Increased patrols were present near the church during Sunday services, and no additional incident had been reported.
After dropping her son off, Hayhurst said she returned and realized there were actually swastikas on two different places on the church’s grounds. Hayhurst asked lead pastor Kevin O’Connor and the police if she could remove them and headed home for some supplies.
“As humans, as Christians, as people, we all need to stand up against hate,” Hayhurst said.
It took an hour.
O’Connor said he believes the vandalism stems from conflict at recent Redlands school board meetings. The church, he said, also has had its online services hacked since three members of the church ran for school board and two won seats.
At the April 8 school board meeting, protesters rallied against several policies the school board is considering, including a parent notification policy that would require teachers to tell parents if a child changes to a preferred name; a flag ban that would prohibit any flag other than the American or military flags; and a process to remove “pornographic” books from school libraries.
A resolution banning transgender athletes in sports will be discussed at an April 22 school board meeting.
The protest, which grew to more than 100 people, came together after the policies were discussed during a school board workshop in March. About another 50 people, members of the church, also attended the meeting in favor of the proposed policies, O’Connor said.
