A northwest San Antonio pastor said vandals attacked his church around 6 am Monday, spray painting the building with vicious graffiti.
Russell Schwarz is the Senior Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church at 8603 Huebner, near Eckert Road.
Schwarz said San Antonio Police called him around 6:20 am and told him that a witness had called police to report that four people were seen tagging the church.
Schwarz said police arrived to find profane images sprayed across the exterior of the building.
"Across and down one side (of the building) there were a lot of different images. There were Satanic things. 666. Inverted crosses. There were Satanic symbols and a pentagram and other vulgarities on the building," Schwarz said.
The fact that the attack came on Christmas Eve morning, Schwarz said, is no deterrent to the faithful in his congregation. Volunteers came to the church at first light to repair the damage and try to wipe away the stains.
"Here's the message," Schwarz said, "today in the City of David, a child is born. He is Christ the Lord. And suddenly a great host of angels appeared in the sky, singing glory to God in the highest, and on Earth, peace to men of goodwill. Certainly what was done here was not an act of peace, was not an act of God's love. But we are a church of peace and we're a church of God's love and that's the message that we want to send."
Schwarz said a Candlelight Christmas Eve service would go on as planned and he had no intention of mentioning the attack during the event.
"I believe this is the activity of the devil. Whatever the motivation behind it, I don't know. But I believe the devil's behind it and this is not going to stop our church or any other church. You can cover us with paint. You cannot change our message. You can destroy our building but you cannot destroy the church of Jesus Christ. It is alive and well forever," Schwarz said.
Schwarz said the church has no surveillance cameras but he is hopeful that someone saw something of value and will share what they know.
"There are apartments all around us. Huebner is a very busy road, and possibly somebody has information and could share it with the police," Schwarz said.
The non-emergency number for the San Antonio Police Department is 210-207-7484.