CULLMAN, Ala. – According to a statement made by Cornerstone Revival Center, the catalytic converters were cut out of their three church vehicles sometime last week.
“At some point between Sunday, Oct. 31 in the afternoon and Friday, Nov. 5 in the morning, a criminal (or criminals) came to our church and cut the catalytic converters out of all three of our church vehicles,” the statement read. “We didn’t realize any of this happened until we went to use the church van for our youth on Friday night.”
The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation.
The church shared that unfortunately, they’ve seen this happen multiple times in their area. Recently, a car lot in town was a victim of the same crime. Churches and other local establishments alike have been vandalized.
Cornerstone shared that they want to be a voice of encouragement to every church, business and homeowner.
“Pay attention to your surroundings, be aware of your facilities/dwelling and If you see something, say something,” Cornerstone said. “This is not to invoke fear in the community or generate negativity. Simply to bring awareness in effort to prevent this from happening anywhere else in our community. This was ours. There were not any suspects and no surveillance cameras unfortunately.”
Cornerstone Youth Pastor Jordan Fitzgerald said repairs have already been made to the vehicles.
“We have a morning service and an evening service on Sundays,” Fitzgerald said. “The vans were used that Sunday morning and afternoon. So, the crime had to have been committed at some point after the Sunday evening service and prior to Friday morning. Our midweek service is on Tuesday night and the vehicles were not used for that service. If the crime had happened on Monday, it would have gone unnoticed.
“The only other thing that may be worth mentioning is that we were able to locate a yellow Dewalt reciprocating saw blade next to the vehicles. The blade was turned into the sheriff’s office as evidence.”
If you have any information, please contact the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office at 256-734-0342.
