Vandal Targets Concord Church's Support For Black Lives Matter

CONCORD, NH — A city church was hit with vandalism this weekend after someone spray painted the word "Blue," over the words, "Black Lives Matter," on the church's sign of support for the movement.

The tagging occurred sometime between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord on Pleasant Street, shocking neighbors, parishioners, and people driving by who enjoy seeing the inspiring messages on the sign, posted on an irregular basis.

The Rev. Michael Leuchtenberger, who has been serving at the church for nearly a decade, said the church was working with the sign installer to investigate how to best remove the paint. He did not know what the cost would entail to clean it off.

"There is an irony that someone, presumably expressing support for 'law and order,' has decided to do so by breaking the law and vandalizing a church," he told the Concord Monitor Sunday.

Since the spray paint incident is an active investigation, Concord police cannot offer comment about it. Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood said the department does not condone any criminal activity — including defacing or damaging property belonging to others.

The spray paint incident occurred less than a day after about 100 people gathered at the Statehouse to show support for law enforcement in the state and two weeks after thousands of people marched against racism from Memorial Field, a few blocks from the church, to the Statehouse.

Becky Whitley, a Democrat running for state Senate, denounced the vandalism incident as "a disgraceful act of cowardice and malice" in an email.

"Directly defacing a call for racial equity and the end to police brutality is particularly offensive when Granite Staters are coming together to dismantle systemic racism in New Hampshire and rebuild our state in a more just, equitable, and inclusive way," she said. "This type of racially motivated act should be relegated to a past era and should not be part of our community today. I look forward to joining law enforcement and local community members in leading a united condemnation of this malicious act and a shared statement that Black Lives Matter."

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