A rainbow-colored sign welcoming LGBTQ people to a church in Southern California was vandalized late on Sunday, a case that’s now being investigated as a possible hate crime, according to police.
The metallic sign — six hearts in the color of the Pride rainbow — was part of a larger sign displayed on the lawn of the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles west of Los Angeles.
The banner includes information about the church, such as its website address, telephone number and a message that reads, “All Are Welcome.”
Church officials reported the incident to authorities on Monday morning, the Ventura County Star reported. The LGBTQ part was found inside the larger sign, apparently after being kicked in.
Brian Carr, a member of the church, told the newspaper that the sign was there because the church is welcoming to all.
“Everybody can come here,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. But we purposely welcome those people because a lot of churches won’t.”
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Thousand Oaks Police Chief Jeremy Paris said that while it’s still too early to draw any conclusions, investigators will try to determine the reason behind the vandalism.
“Whether it’s a hate crime is one of the things we’ll look at on something like this because the symbol is supportive of the LBGTQ community,” he said. “We’ll look at what the motivation is. But it’s too early to determine that now.”
According to its website, the church welcomes “everyone regardless of race, age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental health, faith, doubt, family composition, political affiliation, socio-economic status, or any other category that divides us… At Holy Trinity, we strive to love diversely and deeply. To all who have been marginalized, we will work to demonstrate that nothing can separate you from the love of God.”
Several churches across the U.S. have been targeted by anti-LGBTQ hate recently.
Earlier this month, an LGBTQ display at a church in Kansas City, Mo., was defaced with a hateful message, just days after an openly gay candidate running for local office said that vandals had spray-painted a homophobic slur on one of his campaign banners.
In March, a multi-colored sign displaying the message “Everyone is welcome here” was stolen from a Methodist church in Clarksville, Md., just months after vandals wrote anti-LGBTQ messages over it.
Late last year, a person was caught on video tearing down a Pride flag at the Grace United Presbyterian Church in Wayne, N.J.
