Surveillance video captures Lehigh Acres church vandal suspect

Brand new video of a suspected Lehigh Acres church vandal on Saturday morning was just released moments ago. Despite the damages to the church property, the pastor is offering forgiveness to those behind the crime.

The president of the council at a Faith Evangelical Lutheran, a church in Lehigh Acres, is more sad than angry after discovering that vandals targeted its campus.

“It’s just like why? Why did it happen?” said Robert Dischl, the president of the council at Faith Evangelical Lutheran. “And that’s the best way I can describe it, to be honest with you.”

The church pastor, Jhon Correa, told WINK News they learned of the damage early Saturday morning.

“We go and look at our videos and try to find out who did it and, unfortunately, sadly,” Correa said, “it was some teenagers as we can see in our videos.”

The church gave WINK a video clip from its surveillance video, which showed a teenager ripping up something. But the damage was more extensive than that.

Dischle described the speakers as being both “torn and ripped” after one of the benches in the Rose Garden was broken in half and a monument was turned over. But, it is not just any Rose Garden or monument. Beneath the soil laid the ashes of more than 100 loved ones.

“From children, from husbands and wives, grandparents and this is a resting place,’ Dischl said. “Instead of being in a graveyard, this is their home.”

Correa said the church is working with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to find the vandals. But so far, there are not any good leads. Despite the damages, the pastor said he hopes to meet someday those who did the abhorrent damages. He said he could forgive them on one condition.

“I can forgive if I see it in their eyes,” Correa said, “that they desperately want to come and say, ‘I’m sorry.'”