Salt Lake City Police are asking the public for help finding the person or people responsible for vandalizing a Roman Catholic high school and church over the weekend.
Officers responded on Sunday afternoon to reports of vandalism at Judge Memorial High School as well as Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church just south of it. When they arrived, Police Sgt. Robin Heiden says there was spray paint on large areas of both buildings that included anti-religious phrases, swear words, an upside down cross and the words West High.
“We investigated and were unable to get any leads on a suspect at this point,” Heiden says. “So we’re still investigating it. Hopefully if somebody knows of anyone that was up there or had been talking about it and they have any information on it, we’d appreciate a phone call.”
Heiden says officers had a difficult time finding evidence that could lead them to a suspect.
“A lot of times, in the winter on these types of crimes we can follow foot tracks in the snow,” Heiden says. “But it was snowing so hard and then we got the call the next day. We’re not even sure when this happened. So at that point, the evidence that we could have used was pretty much gone.”
Susan Dennin, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake, told KUER that it’s unclear at this point how much the damage will cost. The Salt Lake City Police department is working with the Diocese to remove the graffiti.
