Police: Vandals deface church, school, other properties with graffiti

DEER PARK, Texas – Vandals defaced a church, buildings, signs and other properties in Deer Park with graffiti late Tuesday night, according to police.

The vandalism was discovered Wednesday morning. 

“It was about from this point here up to about there,” said Jimmy Woodall, of the First Baptist Church of Deer Park, as he showed KPRC 2 where the paint covered part of the front of the church.  He said workers spent about seven hours removing graffiti from the building and from a church sign out front. The colorful graffiti read “bear” and “phish.” (The words "bear" and "phish" were written on the building/sign?) The vandals also hit the church sign out front.

Woodall said, “We just sprayed the goop on it, let it set, and came back and sprayed it again. And we took wire brushes and brushed it off and came back and hydro-blasted it and it came off.”

Deer Park police said four places on the north side of the city were hit, plus a church in La Porte. Police posted pictures of the damage on their Facebook page.

Lt. Christopher Brown, with the Deer Park police, said, “We hope that we can catch these people so that we can prevent any further damage. I know some of the graffiti has been able to be cleaned up at this point but what we don't want is more damage to occur and for this to keep happening.”

Police also found the graffiti on a drainage ditch under the bridge near the church. Just across the street, there is paint on a school sign, as well as on school windows.

“They just don't have respect for other people's property period,” said Woodall. He told KPRC 2, “We don't expect you to pay for it.  But we would like to ask you why you would want to do something like that.”

If you can help police catch the vandals, please call Deer Park police at 281-478-2000 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.  You can remain anonymous and could earn a cash reward.