North Hall Church on Mount Vernon Road recently placed a banner on its property in support of Israel, and the pastor of that church says that sign was vandalized overnight Sunday.
Pastor Bucky Kennedy said the sign, which features the Israeli flag and the phrase "We stand with Israel," was spray painted in red with "Free Palestine" late Sunday evening. The sign relates to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
"One of our members was taking his child to school this morning and noticed it ... and he said, 'Hey, somebody's messed with the sign,'" Kennedy said in an interview on WDUN's The Martha Zoller Show. "We've got video of the time that it got done."
But Kennedy said while their sign was tagged, North Hall Church is not anti-Palestine.
"We live in an area that if you're in favor of something, you must hate the other thing," Kennedy said. "We just felt like it was important to say, 'Hey Israel, we know you, we see you, we're praying for you. These are horrific times and we're just standing with you.'"
Kennedy said they will eventually get a new sign, but they plan to leave it up for now.
"I think our community needs to ... one, understand the issue, and two, be prepared to know what you believe," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said they do plan to contact local authorities.
"If we can get a good idea about who did what, when, or whatever, we're going to call the sheriff's office and let them come take a look at it," Kennedy said. "I'd just love to sit down and say, 'Hey, listen, tell me why you did this.'"
