WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita Police are investigating burglary and vandalism in a Wichita church. Wichita Police say that they received a call from the St, Patrick Catholic Church early on Saturday morning.
They say they arrived at the church and discovered significant vandalism, including hate speech and damage to items such as statues, candles, and glass. Notably, a United States flag had been burned.
The church is located on North Arkansas Street just south of twenty-first street north.
A Facebook post from the church said, “It’s with a heavy heart that we wanted to inform you that our church was vandalized this morning. Our priests are safe. For this reason, there will be No 5:00 p.m. Mass tonight as the investigation continues.
We will keep you posted in regard to the scheduled events for this weekend and Mass tomorrow.”
Later on Saturday the Kansas Catholic Conference posted photos of the damage and the following: “This is the hate crime scene at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Wichita. After forcing their way inside, statues were destroyed, glass smashed and other extensive damage exacted upon this sacred space.
St. Patrick Church is a predominantly Latino parish situated in a working class neighborhood of North-Central Wichita. They have a parish school. Parishioners were unable to worship at Mass here Saturday night—and may not be able to do so on Sunday.
The FBI is investigating. A Satanic website was scrawled on a wall. This is the face of evil. This is the same type of group that will be holding a Satanic wordship ritual on the grounds of the Kansas State Capitol on March 28.”
Wichita Police said, “Authorities are actively investigating the incident in collaboration with the Wichita Fire Department, the FBI, and the ATF to gather leads that may help identify those responsible for this crime.”
This investigation is ongoing, and we encourage anyone with information to contact 911 or Crime Stoppers of Sedgwick County at 316-267-2111