Days after the historic sanctuary at an Ocala church was destroyed by fire, the organization’s congregation has reported that the property was the subject of an act of racially-charged vandalism.
Leaders at St. Paul AME Church reported the unlawful entry and acts of vandalism on Tuesday night, hours after church officers arrived and discovered the grafiti.
According to a statement released by the church’s leadership, an unknown individual broke into the condemned structure and covered both the interior and exterior of the property with threatening language, hateful symbols, and overt racial slurs.
On the church’s exterior marquee sign, vandals wrote “Peckerwood Will Lick,” alongside a drawn handicap logo.
Inside the sanctuary, which has 30-foot ceilings and second-floor balconies that were heavily scorched over the weekend, vandals repeated the slurs, writing phrases like “Peckerwood was here” alongside drawings of death faces with demon horns.
Church officials noted that “peckerwood” is a known white supremacist term used to mark or “lick” locations as an explicit threat of future violence.
The Ocala Police Department responded immediately to the scene and has launched an active criminal investigation into the incident.
Due to the hate-crime nature of the threats, federal authorities have been notified and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has become involved in the case.
Just days prior to the incident, late Saturday evening, a massive fire erupted inside the 134-year-old historic church.
First responders battled zero-visibility conditions and extreme heat exceeding 375 degrees Fahrenheit before successfully containing the blaze to the first-floor assembly hall.
Following a joint investigation by fire and building departments, the fire was ruled accidental and electrical in nature, but the extensive smoke and structural damage forced city inspectors to officially condemn the building.
Despite the overlapping tragedies, St. Paul A.M.E. leadership released a resolute statement declaring that the congregation remains unbroken.
“While these acts are deeply troubling, St. Paul AME Church remains steadfast in its commitment to faith, justice, and community,” the church statement read. “We unequivocally condemn all acts of hate, racism, and violence. At the same time, we will not be moved from our calling to love, to serve, and to stand as a beacon of hope in this community.”
The church will hold a formal press conference on Wednesday, at 3:00 p.m. on the front steps of the sanctuary. Clergy, local organizers, community leaders, and regional supporters are invited to stand together to denounce the hate, pray for the neighborhood, and call for swift justice.