By Erin Murphy 
A local Christian church in Fitchburg was vandalized somewhere between late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning Sept. 14 due to a controversial sign placed out front by its doors.
The sign placed outside this church stated, “Marriage is 1 man + 1 woman … and You Know It!” This sign was vandalized with the word “LOVE” spray painted in red across the banner, making it clear that whoever did the vandalism does not agree with such ideas.
Many signs have been placed in front of the church but this is the first one that has been vandalized. Others have read: “Abortion is murder,” “God has laws,” And one has asked, “Do you know who I am?”

The current sign (as of Sept. 29) outside of the Faith Christian Church in Fitchburg Photo by: Vincent Tevnan
Pastor Long told the Telegram and Gazette, “We certainly aren’t making a statement that says we hate LGBT people. It’s not a statement that would be hateful. It’s a statement of what we believe historically, culturally and frankly throughout all the world religions today, is an understood value of what marriage is.”
Bella K’s, a resident of Fitchburg, response to Pastor Long’s previous statement is, “They’re not saying they hate us directly but, I feel like them saying, ‘a marriage is between a man and a woman,’ is them saying our marriages aren’t legitimate because they’re between a man and a man or a woman and a woman, and I feel like that’s just as hateful as outright saying they hate us!”
With same-sex marriage being legalized in the United States, you would think that there would be more acceptance, especially in a state like Massachusetts – which was the first state to legalize same sex marriage before the Supreme Court ruled it a right.
Lainey S, also a resident of Fitchburg, had a lot to say about the vandalism. She stated, “I think this particular vandalism was a good thing, and able to bring light to a situation where LGBT people experience so much discrimination and hate, particularly with religious groups. Speaking from personal experience, there are two types of religious people, the type who actually practice what the bible preaches, which is love, and those who pick and choose which rules (usually from the Old Testament) to follow.”
Over the past week, this act of vandalism was posted and shared all over the Facebook community. Most of the comments were positive ones, stating that they were glad that someone “fixed” the sign. All in all, Pastor Long did not wish to have the vandalism investigated, but covered to shine a light on the fact that the church has free will to publicly post any messages they agree upon.

Faith Christian Church on Boutelle Street in Fitchburg has created controversy with several signs they have placed outside of their establishment  Photo by: Vincent Tevnan