FOUNTAIN — Authorities are investigating a weekend ransacking of a local church that resulted in more than $3,000 of damaged or stolen property, according to Bay County Sheriff’s Office reports released Monday.
BCSO investigators were called to the Fountain Baptist Church, 18906 U.S. 231, Saturday at about 8:50 p.m. to calls of a burglary. Cash and several items were missing or destroyed in the church, but the perpetrators were nowhere to be found, investigators reported.
An area church group sent out a notice Monday for other local churches to be on the lookout and to secure themselves against a similar incident.
“The church was ransacked and many items stolen,” said Phyllis A. Poland of the Northwest Coast Baptist Association. “… Be in prayer for the congregation as they replace stolen items and re-secure the building.”
BCSO is continuing to investigate the incident at the church.
According to BCSO reports, several electronic items were broken or missing, including the church’s sound-mixing board for services, a laptop computer, a wireless microphone and video projector. The suspect or suspects also snagged two packs of hot dogs and $500 in cash from the church, officers said.
BCSO reported a total of $3,220 in damage or theft. No arrests had been made in the case as of Monday night.