London Church Attacked in Broad Daylight

Video footage from London this week shows the cross on the Chadwell Heath Baptist Church in east London being hauled down by a young man making no attempt to conceal his identity, despite the widespread acceptance of people wearing masks in public and the presence of several witnesses.

The Metropolitan Police say the fallen cross has been recovered and a male was arrested at the scene on suspicion of criminal damage. No mention was made of pursuing religiously-aggravated hate crime charges.

In a statement, the church said: "Chadwell Heath Baptist Church has been working with and serving the local community for over 100 years. We listen to, and care deeply for those in our neighbourhood.

"We are distressed following the events where our building was vandalised. The person seen was not part of our church, nor had we seen him prior to yesterday.

"We are thankful no one was hurt and do not want this to affect our ministry. We continue to pray for everyone in Chadwell Heath and will do our best to serve the community now and in the future." 

Mo Metcalf-Fisher of the Countryside Alliance said of the incident:

"There's something quite chilling, about this time where churches and other religious buildings are offering a sanctuary to people that are going through a very difficult time right now that someone could target it in such a malicious and vile way.

"I hope that the police are able to track down that person that we that we witness ripping off the cross from the church roof... I think it's fair to say that it from the outset, it looks like a religious hate crime. But this is happening across the UK."

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