‘Save Gaza’ and ‘Free Palestine’ spray painted onto a Midlands church

With protests related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict escalating across the U.S., messages to “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” were scrawled in red spray paint late Thursday night on the outside of a small church in West Columbia.

Suburban Baptist Church, located at 1700 Holland St., was hit with the vandalism, with politically charged messages sprayed onto the front door of the church and the house that serves as the home of its children’s ministry and food pantry. In addition, “Welcome to Hell” was tagged onto the church’s sign and a graphic depiction of a phallus was sprayed onto the back doors of the main worship hall.

“We don’t know who did it or why they did it,” said Tracy McGee, senior pastor over the church’s small congregation of about 25. “It’s a depressed neighborhood. There’s all types of stuff goes on. I’m willing to bet two knuckleheads that just do graffiti work had nothing better to do and probably couldn’t find Gaza on a map. But I don’t know that for sure. That’s where we’re at. We’re praying for them.”

A representative for the West Columbia police said they received a report of the vandalism from the church, but they aren’t ready to announce any suspects or speculate on the exact time when the graffiti was tagged onto the buildings.

McGee said this is the first time in his 17 years with the church that it’s been hit with any vandalism. The church celebrated its 50th anniversary last fall.

“It’s a terrible situation,” the pastor said. “What a waste of time, money and effort. Obviously, somebody’s got some talent, they can be putting that to some good use instead of destroying things like that. We’re a poor church. We’re really lucky if our tithings during Sunday are 100 bucks. So this is costly for us.”

McGee said the food pantry that the church runs out of the house across the street is one of the largest in Lexington County, giving out food to people in need once a week and providing about 450 meals on Thanksgiving.

The pastor said that messages about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict being sprayed onto the church’s buildings is indicative of a “strange time” in the U.S.

“We are in a very divided time,” McGee said. “We need strong leaders that will take care of our country. We’re just in a very divided time on all types of stuff. We respect all sides. That’s where we come down all the time. And we’re just praying for the government officials to get their act together.”