WINTER PARK, Fla. – Winter Park police on Tuesday shared a photograph of a possible suspect in the burning of an inclusive welcome banner at the doors of a church.
The fire happened Jan. 20 at the First Congregational Church of Winter Park, where leaders spoke out after a sign featuring a Pride flag and reading “Everyone is welcome here” was cut down and set on fire.
“It was hot enough while it was lit that it began to do that, but on a spectrum, there are people who go through a lot worse than this and have a lot more damage done to their buildings,” Senior Minister Sean Garvey said, gesturing to bubbling paint and burned weatherstripping on the doors.
[MORE: Winter Park church’s inclusive banner destroyed overnight]
According to Garvey, newly-installed security cameras captured the suspect’s movements.
“We were able to observe the individual coming in from this side of the sidewalk,” Garvey said. “He made a beeline for it, which indicated to me that he knew what the sign already said.”
Garvey said that the suspect then cut the sign down, grabbed it and lit it on fire at the church’s front doors.
Officers and firefighters responded to the church just before midnight, as well as the Winter Park Fire Marshal and the Florida Bureau of Fire, Arson and Explosives, the Winter Park Police Department said in a news release.
Investigators are working to find the suspect and determine the motive, according to the release.
“All avenues of investigation are being followed to identify the suspect and determine if the crime committed had a biased-based motive,” the release states.
Anyone who has any information about the incident is asked to contact Winter Park police Detective R. Budde at 407-599-3658 or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).