Members of Bethel Seventh Day Adventist Church were in shock this morning after finding their church had been vandalized.
There were several broken pews and instruments. Food covered the floor, and many offices and rooms were damaged.
A lot of technical equipment was stolen as well.
Members say roughly $75,000 of damage was done to their church.
“When I came in it just broke my heart just to see the anger and the destruction," Pastor Bryan Mann said. "This is something that's really not normal."
Pastor Mann, who's been in ministry for more than three decades, says right now he’s just wondering why anyone would do this.
"I've seen evil before and this is on that level," he said. ""This wasn't a burglary. It wasn't even vandalism, it was beyond that. It was rage...mocking God."
Mann says this vandalism does not reflect the community.
"We have an awesome community," he said. "We've got a great community so I don't know where this came from."
The church's food pantry, which serves hundreds of families, was also destroyed.
Kansas City, Kansas police say this could’ve happened anytime between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning.
"In my 14 years, I've seen a lot of burglaries and damages and stuff. This is definitely one of the worst I've ever seen," Officer Thomas Tomasic with the KCK police department said.
Carole Sanders has been a member of the church for 25 years and says she was at a loss for words when she saw the damage.
"Ministering is something we love doing. Helping those who are in need and so this is just mind boggling to think someone would do this," she said.
Sanders says this temporary setback is a setup to move forward.
"Hopefully from here we can build better relationships with the community, have more to offer and just be of bigger service to everyone," she said. "Whoever did this, we want them to know that God still loves them, we love them and we just hope they can see within themselves that they are loved."
Members of the church say the food pantry giveaway will still be happening Tuesday but at a different location: 3321 Garfield Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas.
If you have any information on this incident, you are encouraged to call KCK police or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
