Youths destroy vandalise church and destroy Christmas tree
Christmas trees, flower arrangements and a tree to help people remember their loved ones were smashed by a group of teenage girls at St Andrew the Apostle Church in Holt, Norfolk, on 27 December. The church has to be closed except for services.
The Reverend Canon Howard Stoker was alerted when the youngsters rang the church bell. He found a group of teenage girls who had overturned three large Christmas trees and a flower display. "We have a children's corner in the church and they overturned boxes of pens, crayons and scissors and threw them around the church," he said. Father Stoker said it was "terrible" to see and showed a "lack of respect".
Father Stoker said he would have to consider closing the church outside of services if the anti-social behaviour did not stop.The mess inside the church was cleaned up and the names on the memorial tree were replaced while police officers were alerted to the problem. The church may have to close its doors out of hours after being targeted by teenage vandals, a priest has said.
Father Stoker said it was not the first time the church had had problems with anti-social behaviour: "We have tried to engage with them over the years - probably the last two years we've been having problems with them.
Source: BBC
Image: pexels