Police investigating Glen Burnie church vandalism as hate crime
Anne Arundel Police are investigating damaged church property in Glen Burnie as a hate crime, according to a news release.
Northern District detectives responded Monday morning to the St. Alban’s Episcopal Church on 1st Avenue, where security footage showed a teenage boy and girl vandalizing the property the day before, police said. Department spokesperson Marc Limansky said they broke a concrete flower pot outside the chapel and used the piece to damage both an outdoor copper memorial and a brick memorial patio.
A representative from St. Alban’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call 410-222-6135. Callers wishing to remain anonymous are encouraged to call the Anne Arundel County Police Tip Line at 410-222-4700.
The vandalism is the second time in three months St. Alban’s was the subject of a hate bias investigation.
On the morning of Feb. 5, county officers responded to the episcopal church after someone had thrown a glass object at its front door.
That investigation, Limansky said, is still open.
Anne Arundel Police investigate all instances of church vandalism as hate bias incidents, a designation for crimes in which someone is targeted because of their race, nationality, religion or sexual orientation.
According to the Anne Arundel Hate Bias Incident Dashboard, a data spread prepared by ArundelStat, there have been 277 hate-bias incidents in the county between 2019 and 2023. Data from this year is not yet available on the platform.
Of those reports, the vast majority targeted people based on their race, with Black people accounting for nearly 61% of all hate bias incidents.
Between 2019 and 2023, there were 18 hate bias incidents involving someone’s religion, county data shows. Unlike past years, in 2023, vandalism was the most common type of offense and places of worship were the most common locations.