BOSTON — Parishoners at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church are taking an appalling act of vandalism personally.
Parish Council President Arthur Argeros says the graffiti scrawled on the front of the church is a direct hit to this community's Christian Greek Orthodox faith.
An upside-down cross defacing The Virgin Mary and an offensive symbol vandalizing Saint George, who the church is named after.
"Somebody has got a sick mind to think this is okay," Argeros said. "The A symbol, which means anarchy, and one of them had the devil, which is three sixes."
Argeros says the church, a fixture on the Lynn Common, has always had a positive relationship with the community and can't recall ever being targeted by something so negative.
"Lynn’s a tough town, but a lot of good people there and a lot of Greek people, the church has been there over 100 years," Argeros said.
To the church’s relief, the two major icons that were vandalized both have a protective coating. That allowed them to carefully remove most of the graffiti themselves without damaging the sacred portraits.
But it does not undo the intent or the questions as to who did it.
"To be honest, I feel sorry for whoever it is," Argeros said. "I think people are courageous enough to push back and say, 'no, we’re not going to accept this.'"
Lynn Police were out investigating earlier Sunday afternoon and Lynn’s Mayor Thomas McGee was there to discuss the church's concerns moving forward.
The city now plans to send a professional power washer to remove the remaining graffiti from this brick façade.
The church has surveillance cameras but, unfortunately, they were disabled at the time because of construction happening inside the church.
The church now plans to add more cameras in addition to the ones it already has.
[ Norwell man's driveway vandalized, claims he was targeted for political beliefs ]