Unidentified attackers vandalised an evangelical church in Angouleme (France) on the night of Friday 8 March.

The members of the church “Espoir et Vie” (Hope and Life) discovered on Saturday morning that their place of worship had been vandalised. The most visible damage was the paint spread over the walls and chairs of the main room.

But paint was also thrown against Bibles and other books of the church’s library, and on musical instruments such as the piano and microphones. The sound system was also severely damaged. The attackers also emptied the fire extinguishers inside the building.

“This is difficult to understand”, E. Pelletier, a member of the leadership of the church told local newspaper Sud Ouest. “There is no written message to be seen, no particular inscription. We get the impression that these were gratuitous damages”. He added: “this is the first thing that such things happen to us, we have had no problems here so far”.

The attackers have not been identified yet, but pastor Joseph Miall spoke of a clear “willingness to destroy” could be linked to preventing them to continue their celebration of worship services.

The damages were evaluated in a cost of 11,000 Euro.

CNEF DENOUNCES RISE VANDALISM AGAINST FAITH GROUPS

The National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF) supported the church in Angouleme and said it “shares the pastor’s concerns for the safety of the believers”.

The body representing evangelical Christians on a national level said “this act adds to a long list of vandalism against places of worship in the beginning of this year: 65 serious incidents, a 25% of increase compared with the same period in 2018”.