by Gemma Constable

A popular church has been forced to close its doors indefinitely after a spate of vandalism.

Fr Barry Birch, who became parish priest for All Saints, Eastchurch, in October, says he and others in the village have been horrified by recent acts of criminal damage both inside and outside the church.

The decision to close the church was taken by Fr Birch after the discovery of graffiti, some explicit, on the lychgate, which is also the village’s War Memorial to those who died in the two world wars.

It is believed to have happened last Wednesday evening and is the latest in a spate of attacks at the church.

Fr Birch said when he first arrived to take up his post in the village, he was pleased that both All Saints and St Thomas’ at Harty were able to be open throughout the day each day of the week.

He said: “There are, sadly, very few churches around the country that are able to remain open in this way and colleagues of mine elsewhere are most impressed. However, events over the past week which have horrified churchgoers and other residents of Eastchurch mean that we shall, with great reluctance, have to keep All Saints Church locked until further notice.

“The Visitors’ Book has been defaced with obscenities, with the result that we have had to cut four pages from it. One of the service booklets has been defaced on every page.”

Fr Birch added: “Obscenities, drawings, names and telephone numbers have been chalked all over the lychgate.

“It is sad that some young people have chosen a time when the country has been mourning the deaths of the last two surviving veterans of the First World War, Henry Allingham and Harry Patch, both over 110 years of age, to resort to such vandalism.”

He hopes the church can be reopened to weekday visitors, but in the meantime it will be by appointment only.

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