Graffiti Vandals Leave Own Easter Message at Santa Barbara Mission

Crude spraypainted lettering greets parishioners at sunrise service

Parishioners arriving for the Easter Sunday sunrise service at the Santa Barbara Mission found the church’s facade defaced by graffiti vandalism. (Mari Mender photo)

By William M. Macfadyen, Noozhawk Publisher | @noozhawk | Published on 04.24.2011 2:15 p.m.

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The Santa Barbara Mission was vandalized by graffiti overnight Saturday, and parishioners arriving for Sunday’s Easter services were greeted with a rude and crude message scrawled on the wall.

On both sides of the church’s front doors, the iconic sandstone facade was spoiled by black spraypaint in lettering a couple of feet tall, parishioners reported to Noozhawk. The message was described as anti-Christian and included references to God and to Auschwitz, the World War II Nazi concentration camp in Poland.

Officials at the Mission, St. Barbara Parish and the Santa Barbara Police Department could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Click here for more information about the Santa Barbara Mission, 2201 Laguna St. Click here for more information on St. Barbara Parish.

— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.

Comments

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» LookingWest on 04.24.11 @ 08:54 PM

Join the crowd: City Hall, sidewalks and fences throughout town, various churches and now the Mission: Santa Barbara youth, apparently, feeling their oats, letting us know they’re there. What, exactly, were the words?

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» TG on 04.24.11 @ 09:43 PM

I have such a hard time understanding why some people find a need to deface the property of others.

I really think this is just young people doing things with their friends without thinking of the impact of their actions on others.

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» Charlene Davis on 04.24.11 @ 10:43 PM

Amazing what a public flogging would do. Oh I forgot we will just coddle these punks.

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» JustBobF on 04.25.11 @ 08:40 AM

Shameful.

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» Mr.Right on 04.25.11 @ 09:27 AM

I say good, It is a monument to the death and slavery of the indigenous people of Santa Barbara. “The Church” marks nothing but shame on humanity through its manipulation of man throughout time. It should be brought to its knees before for an inquisition.. Anyone who disagrees is a sheeple.

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» Overtaxed Taxpayer on 04.25.11 @ 10:08 AM

Mexican gang scum, anchor babies and illegals again and again.

they are the lowest form of life in America other than welfare losers who are just Lazy!!

Time to arrest and deport the law beakers, do you hear me spineless Liberals..

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» publius on 04.25.11 @ 01:42 PM

Sadly, this kind of vandalism is appearing all over the south coast.

Now that the City has bought the Police Chief a nice home with public financing,
and he has his own tv show, may he should strap on his piece, grab his old
patrol notebook, and start doing some personal, shoe-leather policing to help
bring this sorry mess under control.

Special note to DA Dudley, and our Solons on the bench.

If the Chief’s folks can actually catch these people, maybe it’s time to stop doing
the wrist-slap, and start going for some more effective, longer lasting deterrent.

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» Charlene Davis on 04.25.11 @ 07:00 PM

My old San Diego neighbor handled a similar tagging perfectly. He took the time to track the taggers down to their homes, found out their families were here illegally and harassed ICE till they started deportation proceedings. He was relentless. Simply beautiful.

I’d say that the taggers probably tagged a symbol or gang sign. Track it down then pursue. For those of you libs who think it is just paint. It’s not. It’s like dogs pissing for territory.

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» LookingWest on 04.26.11 @ 06:51 AM

I’m a “lib” by some standards, although definitely less so, at least, and no longer on the local scene, and I don’t think it is “just paint”. Here on the lower east, it is definitely territory marking, often or usually that of gangs. From what I see, where it’s on private property, it’s removed immediately, as I did my fence, and that does help. It takes a bit longer for the city to respond to the call (897-2513) but they do do so within several days to a week.

What I particularly hate is seeing the trunk of the palm tree in front of my house spray-painted and I worry about the effects of the city’s forced water removing the paint.

If I could see the taggers (and had a camera with me) I would most certainly pursue, but there’s but one street light (by the palm tree, lighting the tag!); it’s done probably late at night; and are gang markings - a great long one on my fence last year was, according to the paint store, marking a Mexican Mafia gang, with the number 13. That really cheered me…. We should have here a site like this is for Porterville: http://www.gangwatchers.org/gang-graffiti.html.

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» 14noscams on 04.26.11 @ 04:26 PM

Overtaxed taxpayer: People like you are turning SB into a Nazi ghetto.

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