The national debate over the future of Roe v. Wade spread through Boulder Wednesday morning in the form of graffiti.
For the second time in a year, parishioners at a Catholic church in Boulder were horrified by messages greeting them for 7 a.m. mass.
Vandals spray-painted abortion rights messages on front doors, windows and religious statues of the Sacred Heart of Mary. This time, the vandalism was linked to a heated nationwide abortion discussion.
‘My body my choice’, ‘Keep your religion out of our bodies’ and ‘Abortion saves lives’ were painted light blue with the anarchist symbol outside the church. Additionally, bright red paint covered the hands and eyes of a bronze statue of Mary and Jesus.
Boulder County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to the church to investigate.
“It’s unfortunate to see people act like this. We certainly understand the highly emotional nature of the pro-life, pro-abortion debate as Supreme Court news leaked on the potential outcome,” said Mark Haas, archdiocesan spokesperson. from Denver.
Church staff planned to pressure wash the paint while the building was still wet from rain.
Haas said there have been at least 30 attacks on Catholic churches in Colorado over the past two years, but many of them weren’t as clearly anti-Catholic as this one.
In September, the Sacred Heart of Mary was defiled. And in October, the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver was vandalized.
Only one spray painter, Madeline Cramer, has been charged with one count of criminal mischief and one count of bias-motivated crime in the vandalism of the basilica. This damage was estimated at approximately $10,000. As of Wednesday, authorities had not charged anyone in connection with the September vandalism at the Sacred Heart of Mary.
Haas and investigators said some of the messages discovered on Wednesday were similar to the vandalism that occurred in September.
Authorities said they believe more than one person was involved in the most recent vandalism.
“The investigation is ongoing, but we can say we are reviewing all evidence, including surveillance footage,” said Carrie Haverfield, spokeswoman for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s very bad for the people who have to see this and we say internally that it’s nothing new for the church,” Haas said. “The church has been attacked for 2000 years.”
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Someone spray-painted abortion rights messages at Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Boulder on Wednesday night.
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Abortion rights messages scrawled on the brick exterior of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Boulder.
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“My Body My Choice” spray painted in blue on the window of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Mary. Boulder County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to the scene and are investigating.
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This is the second time in a year that the Sacred Heart of Mary has been vandalized. Officials say this is directly linked to the heated national debate over abortion.
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Boulder County sheriff’s deputies have been called in to investigate the latest incident of vandalism to a Catholic church in Colorado that occurred Wednesday night.
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An anti-abortion display of 4,000 crosses was toppled last September when the Sacred Heart of Mary was attacked. The church was also spray painted. Officials say some of that paint had not been cleaned off when this latest attack happened.
