Prayer group spray-painted in downtown Brattleboro

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (WCAX) - A Catholic church group was attacked this week with spray paint as they prayed in a Brattleboro park. Police are still looking for the suspect, and the victims say this was not the first time they have been targeted.

Once a week, parishioners from St. Michael’s Catholic Church gather in Pliny Park across from Planned Parenthood “to pray for life.” But on Tuesday, that prayer was interrupted.

The group says their sacred image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the pro-life movement, is now beyond repair.

“We didn’t know what was happening, but I turned to look and saw pink paint on the image, and I was appalled because we love this image,” said Kerry Morton, a St. Michael’s parishioner. “I think the Lord gave us peace to just continue to do what we started out to do, which was pray the Rosary.”

Police were not able to locate the unidentified man.

“Officers from our evening shift responded; they had taken over call responsibility at that time and looked in the area for someone matching the description,” said Brattleboro Police Sgt. Jason Hamilton. “The 1st Amendment protects any kind of activities in these public areas where people are simply expressing themselves.”

Morton says the group has been harassed before. “We get screamed at, we had rocks thrown at us one time, and we have had the finger many times,” Morton said.

But despite that, and damage to their prized possession, they say the culprits have been forgiven. “Even this young man and anyone who has shown anger towards us, I just want them to know that they have a mother that loves them,” Morton said.

Police say the suspect would likely face a disorderly conduct charge. Anyone with information is asked to call the Brattleboro Police Department.

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England responded with a statement that included: “We were not involved in this incident, and I can’t speculate about what happened or why.”