TULSA, Okla — Pastor Shane Peters with Heatherridge Church wasn't expecting to find disturbing graffiti on the church’s brick walls Tuesday morning.
What was more surprising to him is that the text was painted just outside of the church's daycare entrance.
WATCH: 'It's disheartening': Tulsa churches tagged with 'hateful speech' graffiti
“It's always disheartening, and it's disheartening in the language, because we have kids coming in," he said.
Still, he told me the community isn’t angry at whoever spray-painted over the church’s brick walls.
“You just feel sorry for the person, because they feel like this is the only way they can express themselves," he said. “We have fantastic churches, they love the people here, they're trying to serve them. If they got to know the churches a little bit more, I think they'd have a much different opinion.”
Senior Pastor Heather Scherer at Faith Church also found some graffiti outside Tuesday.
Still, she echoes the same sentiment as Peters, saying whoever vandalized the church is in some sort of pain.
"Clearly indicating they've been hurt by either a church or Christians in general," she said. "Treated in a way that wasn't full of love and grace.”
After hearing what happened at Heatherridge Church, she said she actually considers herself lucky.
“The damage to our building is so much smaller than the other church, and it's heartbreaking anytime you see this happen," she said. "Especially when churches, they're all different expressions of Christianity, and we all do that differently.”
According to the Tulsa Police Department, people who are caught spreading "hateful speech" graffiti can be charged differently.
“Graffiti, which can be considered art, or just something that they're being creative, and other one is hate speech, two different crimes altogether," said Officer Andre Baul. "One is considered a misdemeanor, and the other one can be considered something higher, depending on the severity and what is said.”
Officer Baul said each graffiti case is handled differently, but cooperation with residents is vital.
“We work with the community because they're the ones that actually have to come out and see it every single day, even though we patrol everywhere in the city, we may miss things," he said. "It's not because, for lack of us not paying attention, but things go up and then they're taken down just as quickly as they go up.”
Heatherridge Church has filed a police report and is awaiting next steps.
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