Vandals Set Hymnals and Pulpit On Fire in Washington LDS Chapel

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Clark County deputies are trying to figure out who broke through the windows of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Vancouver and set hymnals and the pulpit on fire.

A group of basketball players in the church gym smelled smoke before 7 a.m. and ran to the chapel.

“Opened the back doors of the chapel. The pulpit, where the speakers stand to speak on Sunday, was fully inflamed,” said Ron Kramer, one of the basketball players.

The men quickly grabbed fire extinguishers and tried to knock down the flames. They shoved the material into a bin, and rolled it outside. One of them called the fire department.

“I’ve been playing ball here for almost 30 years, three mornings a week. They probably didn’t know we came in and played,” Ivan Jensen said. He also said the person left behind a message in what appeared to be whipped cream or shaving cream. “It said, ‘Ha ha.’”

The person, or people, broke into the church through a window.

“This is a house of God. This is a sacred place for us. It’s just sad,” said Kramer.

Someone set fire to these hymnals and set them on top of a church pulpit in Vancouver. #KGWnews @KGWNews pic.twitter.com/AXNUES7nUw

— Rachael Rafanelli (@RachaelKGW) April 8, 2016

Our first look inside the church in Vancouver where someone set the pulpit on fire @KGWNews pic.twitter.com/Bel7jiZsI3

— Rachael Rafanelli (@RachaelKGW) April 8, 2016

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