Little Rock church recovering after being vandalized, flooded

LITTLE ROCK, Ark- One Little Rock church is left picking up the pieces after being vandalized and flooded Tuesday morning.

Mabelvale Methodist Church is a place that many go to worship and fellowship on Sundays, but Brenda McCann said church services will be different now that most of their items have been damaged.

She says she was the one who found their Life Center covered in water.

“It was just unspeakable, I thought ‘why would somebody want to deface a church’,” McCann said.

She says she instantly knew something was wrong when walking through the doors.

“I noticed the floor looked kind of funny and I didn’t think anything and then I started walking over to the sewing room where everything is kept and walked into water,” McCann stated.

The facility was left vandalized and flooded with more than 3 inches of water, which broke McCann’s heart.

“The hose in the janitor’s closet was sticking straight up out of the sink which it never does that, it was intentional,” McCann said.

Church leaders believe whoever did this came in and left the faucet running overnight, damaging multiple rooms and running over a thousand dollars’ worth of items. The fans are still running to dry the floors.

Pastor Bob Marble says carpet has been ripped out, and the tiles will have to be replaced.

“The tiles were coming up and I was trying to put them back down,” Marble said.

He says there’s more water to be pumped out and he’s left wondering why someone would do this.

“They may have been just coming to see what was in the church, so when they didn’t find anything, they said, ‘ok let’s just see what we can do’ so I don’t know, it’s a tragic situation,” Marble stated.

He says it could take weeks to reopen and replace what’s been damaged and he’s moving forward aware and hopeful.

“It’s life today I mean there’s a lot of people who just don’t like the church and so I don’t know if that was the type of individual we had or if it was just vandalism,” Marble said.

Church leaders are asking for anyone who knows anything about the incident to give them a call or contact the Little Rock Police Department.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLRT - FOX16.com.