Fayetteville church vandalized with obscene images, hateful words

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Obscene imagery and hateful language were spray-painted all over a church in Fayetteville on Gillespie Street. The church is trying to figure out why this happened and how they're going to clean it up.

"For this to happen here at this particular time, I mean with so much going on with the world this close to the Veterans' Day, all of this happening right now, why? I guess that's the question I'm asking myself right now," said pastor Cordelia Challenger of Greater Unity Tabernacle Christian Church.

Members of the church found the graffiti on Thursday morning, but the pastor said it's unclear whether the church was targeted or why. There was explicit language referencing the Ku Klux Klan, and a racial epithet among other disturbing images. Challenger told ABC11 that she was hurt and in shock but saw this as a wake-up call:

"If this can happen here, it can happen anywhere. If a small church can be targeted, then larger churches can be targeted," Challenger said. "Pastors far greater than me can be targeted, and I believe this is a call of us to begin to pray as a group."

This church is just across the street from the Cumberland County Detention Center. Though the detention center has cameras nearby across the street, the sheriff's office said the church is just out of the shot, and that the security cameras' lenses didn't capture the vandalization.

Meanwhile, Challenger said she has reached out to Fayetteville police to investigate.