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Police: Burglars break in, trash church overnight

Posted at 5:18 PM, Apr 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-17 23:19:13-04

GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The search is on for several suspects who police say broke in and trashed the Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church early Sunday, even burning a bible.

A witness called police reporting they heard loud noises coming from the church and spotted several suspects sitting in a vehicle in the church's parking lot around 3 a.m. Sunday, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office.

The suspects pried open the front doors to get inside, police said. Once inside, the suspects gathered bibles and other books throughout the church and then threw them throughout the foyer area of the building.

Courtesy of Georgetown Reformed Church

Courtesy of Georgetown Reformed Church

Some of the bibles were even burned, said Randy VanOverloop, a church leader.

Police said the suspects then entered the main area of the church where they sprayed fire extinguishers in the pews.

"Whenever you have a break in it’s unsettling, VanOverloop said. "We just hope these kids, we think, are sorry for what they did and they come around."

So far, no arrests have been made.

"It's disappointing. We just hope that if someone is troubled and they think they gotta do this kind of thing [that] they get their lives straightened out," said Deane Wassink, a church attendee.

Anyone with information should contact the sheriff’s office at (616) 738-4000 or call Silent Observer at 1-877-887-4536.

FOX 17s Erica Francis contributed to this report.