The St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Shawville was victim to an incident of vandalism over the weekend that resulted in a broken basement window, a missing security camera, and some cryptic words carved into its front door.
Church caretaker Derek Haddad said he was disturbed to find the church vandalized when he arrived there Sunday morning around 6 a.m. to clean up before the day’s Easter ceremony.
An outdoor light fixture was lying on the ground, and in the church basement he found Peter Morrison, one of the church wardens, cleaning up glass from a shattered window.
“We noticed that there was an item on the floor inside that looked like a silver doorknob,” Haddad said. “I guess that’s what shattered the window.”
Reverend Eric Morin explained the damage, which has been reported to the police, also included a camera that was missing and the words “NO FAtE” carved onto the front doors.
“Disappointment,” Morin said, when asked how it felt to see the damage. “Easter is our biggest festival so for this to happen on the day of that festival is disappointing. Morin said”
“This was very shocking, to see such a scene at our local community church,” said Haddad, who’s been working at the church since 2013. “I haven’t seen any type of vandalism like this before at all [ . . . ] It was very heartbreaking to me.”
Morin said the church has had some thefts before, but nothing that included property damage.
“Two summers ago, we had a pride flag hanging in front of the church and it was stolen,” Morin said. “We went through that four more times, and the last time, they took the stand on which the flag was standing.”
Sûreté du Québec communications officer Sergeant Marc Tessier confirmed police were called to the church around 5 a.m. Sunday morning, and found damage to a window and the church’s front door.
He said the police are investigating, but have yet to find a suspect.
