Rev. Jeffrey Spencer arrived at work Monday morning to an ugly surprise.
Someone had spray painted two walls near the entrance of the Oak Harbor Lutheran Church where he serves as pastor.
“It’s disappointing,” he said. “We just had a work party to get ready for Easter. We were literally polishing the door knobs.”
The church was one of at least two public buildings vandalized Sunday night in Oak Harbor. Hillcrest Elementary was also hit.
In what appears to be a separate incident, someone vandalized a large Bernie Sanders political sign at State Highway 20 and Arnold Road Friday night.
At Oak Harbor Lutheran, the graffiti included vulgar language that had to be covered over with paper.
“We covered up the naughty words before the preschoolers arrived,” Spencer said.
They tried removing the paint with a pressure washer, but that shook loose the stucco siding. Spencer said at the very least the graffiti will be covered before Easter. His congregation would rather be putting their time and dollars toward helping the community, he said.
At Hillcrest, which is located catercorner to the church, someone spray-painted inside and around a covered play area. The graffiti included a garbage truck’s worth of obscene words and phrases that included, “Stop Trump.”
Some of the language was bad enough to make some of the children cry, said Hillcrest Principal Paula Seaman.
Seaman said she sent an email message to parents Monday letting them know the police were notified and the school district was moving quickly to clean it up.
By Monday, workers had washed away most of it and painted over the rest.
“Some of the graffiti included inappropriate language which was upsetting to our students,” she wrote.
Graffiti does happen around Oak Harbor but it’s not common, said police chief Ed Green.
“This community is good about policing itself,” he said. “People call when they see someone suspicious.”
What’s concerning about these particular incidents – which he said are probably related — is that the vandals appear to have known both campuses.
Hillcrest has cameras but not in the play area. The church does not.
