TROY, Mich. – Members of St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church in Troy arrived Thursday morning for mass and saw "F--- war" and "U R dead" painted on the front of their church.
The church is on Big Beaver Road, east of John R Road. It is the first time hate messages have been directed at the church in its 30 years.
Fr. Rudy Zoma told Local 4 they contacted police and will discuss at the church council meeting additional safety measures, including whether to install a video surveillance system.
The church has 5,000 Chaldean families as members, many immigrants from Iraq who consider the church their foundation for a new life here in the United States.
"If somebody has an issue with anything political going on in the world today, they need to know that the church has been preaching this message of peace and respect in the community," Zoma said.
Many church members leaving morning services called the vandalism terrible and maybe something more sinister.
"I was praying and thinking to myself this could be ignorance or it could be people who actually know, that's what's even more scary, that it could be people that understood what this place is," says Patrick Setto, who is a member and is studying to become a priest.
Tens of thousands of Chaldeans live in the area of Sterling Heights, Troy, Madison Heights and Warren.