Minnesota pro-marriage equality church vandalized with religious hate speech

A Minnesota church with a history of supporting equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples was vandalized with religious hate speech over the weekend.

Members arrived at the Pilgrims United Church of Christ in Maple Grove on Sunday to find homophobic graffiti and eggs thrown at the building's walls.

Video of the vandalism filmed by KARE shows the words "church of Soddom and Gomorrah" and references to a Bible verse, Leviticus 18:22, which says that gay sex is an "abomination."

"We are a very liberal progressive voice in Maple Grove," Pastor Robin Raudabaugh told KARE. "And so I think that's when people do things like that, when they're fearful of maintaining their own position... This was a very hate-filled act."

Raudabaugh said that the vandalism was a "step up" from last year when signs opposing a constitutional ban on same sex marriage were stolen and similar anti-LGBT Bible verses were scrawled on the church.

"And so my thought was, 'Wow, we're actually getting that message across, and someone doesn't like it,'" she observed.

No security camera footage was available, but police promised to watch the the church more closely. Anyone with information about the crime can contact the Maple Grove Police Department.

Watch this video from KARE, broadcast June 2, 2013.