A local house of worship is a target of vandals, spreading messages of hate.
"You can see an outline of the swastika that was painted on the side here," explains Pastor John Telloni of St. John Lutheran Church in Massillon.
Rev. Telloni says he has no idea who would paint racist and anti-semitic graffiti on a church storage shed.
"It's not completely been painted over yet, but it said 'White America' and there might've been a swastika somewhere around," he said.
Most it has been painted over, but this is what the most visib A staff member from the church's pre-school noticed the hateful messages Wednesday afternoon.
"There's a sad individual, individuals out there who preach hate and if we could reach them and tell them that is not the way to bring change or harmony, unity in a community, we want everyone to know that God loves them," said Rev. Telloni.
The storage shed is used by the church's boy scout troop. Hateful messages were also scrawled on a canoe sitting next to it, as well as the phrase "Dan was here."
"It's just sad that hatred and bigotry have to be expressed in this way, desecrating a church building," he said.
This weekend the church is holding a service celebrating its 100th anniversary. Rev. Telloni says the vandals who did this will not rock their faith.
"This doesn't dampen our enthusiasm one bit, I mean things like this happen, we live in a sinful world, things like this happen, but we know we've been blessed by God here, 100 years and we're gonna proclaim his grace," said Rev. Telloni.
Massillon police have not made any arrests. They also say they are not aware of any similar vandalism in the area. Police say they are not investigating this as a hate crime.
If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact the Massillon Police Department.
"You can see an outline of the swastika that was painted on the side here," explains Pastor John Telloni of St. John Lutheran Church in Massillon.
Rev. Telloni says he has no idea who would paint racist and anti-semitic graffiti on a church storage shed.
"It's not completely been painted over yet, but it said 'White America' and there might've been a swastika somewhere around," he said.
Most it has been painted over, but this is what the most visib A staff member from the church's pre-school noticed the hateful messages Wednesday afternoon.
"There's a sad individual, individuals out there who preach hate and if we could reach them and tell them that is not the way to bring change or harmony, unity in a community, we want everyone to know that God loves them," said Rev. Telloni.
The storage shed is used by the church's boy scout troop. Hateful messages were also scrawled on a canoe sitting next to it, as well as the phrase "Dan was here."
"It's just sad that hatred and bigotry have to be expressed in this way, desecrating a church building," he said.
This weekend the church is holding a service celebrating its 100th anniversary. Rev. Telloni says the vandals who did this will not rock their faith.
"This doesn't dampen our enthusiasm one bit, I mean things like this happen, we live in a sinful world, things like this happen, but we know we've been blessed by God here, 100 years and we're gonna proclaim his grace," said Rev. Telloni.
Massillon police have not made any arrests. They also say they are not aware of any similar vandalism in the area. Police say they are not investigating this as a hate crime.
If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact the Massillon Police Department.
