Vandals knock down church door, throw boulder onto car

BOULDER - They only hit seven blocks, but that didn't stop them from causing thousands of dollars worth of damage near the University of Colorado.

Sometime over the weekend, vandals ruined homes, pelted cars with rocks and even smashed in a church door.

"What on Earth would cause someone to do this?" Minister Martie McMane from the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Boulder asked.

Whatever the reason, the vandal or vandals decided to start their crime spree at the First Congregational Church of Christ.

"It was early Saturday morning," McMane said.

Something provoked the vandals to go around back, to the church's side entrance. That's where they found a church parking sign lodged into the ground.

"They took it and smashed the door in! It was completely broken," McMane said.

The damage to the church's door was estimated at $600. The church's minister believes it was a random act.

"Instead of random acts of kindness, it's random acts of violence," McMane said.

Within a half hour, the vandals crisscrossed six more blocks.

"One after another, we started getting reports from homes and vehicles in the university area," Sarah Huntley with Boulder Police said.

The vandals stole lawn furniture, used a tree branch to break out windows and picked up a 70-pound boulder and tossed it through someone's car window.

"They definitely took advantage of what was in the area," Huntley said.

Boulder Police usually have between 12 to 18 crews in the university area on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. But since most college students left for Thanksgiving break on Friday, they didn't have as many.

If caught, the person or persons responsible could face criminal mischief charges. Depending on the amount of damage, the offenses could be upgraded.

If you have any information regarding the vandalism spree, call Boulder Police at 303-441-3333.