Larne church paint bomb attack ‘a sectarian hate crime’
Police are treating a paint bomb attack on the wall of a Catholic church in Larne as a hate crime.
The incident at St MacNissi’s Church in the Agnew Street area of the Co Antrim town was reported to police on Sunday morning.
Appealing for information, Sergeant Alan Lowry said: “We received a report at around 11.00 am that sometime overnight a paint bomb was thrown at the wall of the church.
“Enquiries are continuing and at this stage the incident is being treated as a sectarian hate crime.
“We would appeal to anyone with any information to contact police in Larne on 101, quoting reference number 608 16/02/20.”
Condemning the attack, Larne Councillor Gerardine Mulvenna said it was inexcusable.
The Alliance representative said: “It is totally inexcusable to attack a place of worship in this way. Everyone has the right to worship as they see fit without fear of intimidation or attack.
“Whoever damaged St MacNissi’s must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and I would urge anyone with information to pass it to the police as soon as possible.
“As a society we will not tolerate attacks on places of worship and the rule of law must apply.”