Two interior spaces at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 460 Lake St., were vandalized with swastikas and the N-word in the basement level of the church over the weekend, Pilgrim officer manager Joycelin Fowler confirmed in a telephone interview.
Fowler said the N-word was written on a yellow laminated sign to the men’s bathroom in the basement of the church with a blue marker.
The N-word and two swastikas also were written on a 2016-2017 staff photograph hanging in the hallway of the community nursery school, also located in the basement.
The incident, which was categorized as disorderly conduct/hate crime by the Oak Park police, took place sometime between 2 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 18 and 7 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19.
The face of one of the staff members – a white male – also was marked out with the blue market, according to Fowler.
Fowler said she does not believe the vandal was a student.
“Unfortunately, we have no idea who it might have been,” she said, adding that the Oak Park Farmers Market is held on Saturdays and “people come in to use the bathroom.”
“We think it might have been during the farmers market,” she said.
Oak Park police advised church staff to “keep an eye out” and “be aware of who is in the building.”
She said the church is not monitored by surveillance cameras.
“We are a church that is definitely about justice and we do not tolerate hate in any way,” Fowler said.
She said the church staff and parishioners were shocked but “unfortunately not really surprised” considering everything that’s going on with hate crimes across the nation.
“We’re just shocked it happened here,” she said.
“You have to have an extra eye out,” she said. “It’s just a sad way to live your life being suspicious.”
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com