Limavady Catholic church graffiti treated as hate crime
- Published
Sectarian graffiti on a Catholic church in Limavady, County Londonderry, is being treated by police as a hate crime.
Paramilitary graffiti including 'UVF' and 'UFF' was daubed on walls of St Mary's parish church on Irish Green Street and a statue was also damaged.
The PSNI received a report about the vandalism at about 09:40 GMT on Sunday. It is believed to have happened overnight.
The church was also vandalised in 2018.
The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) is widely acknowledged to be a cover name for the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), an umbrella group of various loyalist groups, which was formed in 1971.
The UFF is believed to have killed more than 250 people during the Troubles.
The graffiti was cleaned off the church property on Sunday afternoon.
Local priest Monsignor Brian McCanny described the attack as "disappointing", saying there was "a certain amount of distress that it should happen to a church building".
"We know it's not representative of any of the other church communities in Limavady," he added.
'Reprehensible'
First Minister Arlene Foster condemned the attack saying it was "reprehensible".
"No cause is served by such actions and I hope those responsible can be identified and brought to justice," Mrs Foster said in a tweet.
Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald described the graffiti as "disgraceful" and urged anyone with information regarding the incident to contact police.
She said the swift cleaning of the graffiti from the church was "much more representative of the Limavady community".
Disgraceful sectarian graffiti daubed on St Mary’s Chapel in Limavady overnight.
— Caoimhe Archibald (@CArchibald_SF) January 31, 2021
I’ve spoken to the PSNI who are investigating this as a sectarian hate crime & I’d urge anyone with information to bring it to the police. pic.twitter.com/u9jGtgS6PZ
In a statement, DUP MP Gregory Campbell said it was "unacceptable" that a repeat attack had occurred at the church.
"Daubing sectarian graffiti on any church property is not just insulting but contributes to creating problems in local communities," said Mr Campbell.
He added: "While there is no apparent localised reason or recent precedent for this incident, I fear it may be linked to wider political tensions."