HUNTINGBURG, IN (WFIE) -
A Huntingburg church is still cleaning up after being vandalized.
But it wasn't broken windows or graffiti, the whole inside of the church was sprayed with a fire extinguisher.
Church officials tell 14 News the vandals discharged all of the fire extinguisher's content and between the cleanup and replacing all of the things that were ruined, it's a grand total of around $30,000 in damage.
"This is one of the worst cases of vandalism I've seen in a long time," said Sgt. Ronnie Bowman with Huntingburg Police.
The dust and residue from the fire extinguisher was so thick that before 14 News went inside the sanctuary, our crew was asked to put on masks. Once inside, their shoes left footprints outlined in the fine powder which covered every surface.
"Because the air conditioning fans have been on, it circulated everywhere. I mean, our furnaces are packed full," said River of Life Church Pastor Bill Longanecker.
Longanecker says sound equipment was damaged and several costly musical instruments including a baby grand piano which volunteers worked on cleaning Monday afternoon.
"It could be destroyed, but if it is, that's thousands of dollars. You can't even replace it," Longanecker said.
Bowman says the dust makes it impossible for them to find any fingerprints linking them to a suspect, but they have other ways to see who might have been around.
"We do have some cameras around the city that we're going to try and look at to see if someone had some access that way," Bowman said.
Bowman says when they find who did this, the list of charges will be lengthy.
"Looking at a burglary, obviously, with an intent to commit a felony, and once the criminal mischief goes to a felony level, that's what, " said Bowman.
Longanecker says when they first discovered the damage they prayed for the vandals.
"And just said, 'Lord, we forgive the people who did it'," Longanecker said.
In the meantime, River of Life Church is holding their services at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Huntingburg.
Pastor Longanecker says they hope to back in their building in July.
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