HARTFORD, Ky. — The Ohio County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the burglary and vandalizing of a Fordsville church.
According to Ohio County Sheriff Tracy Beatty, around 3 p.m. Wednesday, the Sheriff’s Office received a call that Pleasant Grove Church had been burglarized. The church is at 296 Askins Road in Fordsville.
After arriving at the scene, it was discovered the suspect(s) entered the church through a side window. The window was pried open using a shepherd’s hook from one of the headstones in the cemetery and the window was broken in the process.
After entering the church, the offender(s) ransacked the building and destroyed several items. Food and drinks were opened from the kitchen area and poured throughout the church. Thermostats from the HVAC units were damaged by pouring juice into them. Vases and picture frames were broken; holes were knocked in the walls.
Items in the offices were taken from desks and thrown around the room. The women’s bathroom had been used, Popsicle sticks were on the floor as well as spray painting on the wall. The fire extinguisher had been pulled from the wall and discharged inside of the church. The door to the crawlspace had also been removed from the outside of the church. The rear door outside wall light had been smashed with a concrete cinder block.
A shed located behind the church had a master style lock pried off of the door causing damage to the shed. Other than food and drinks, the only other item believed to have been taken at the time of the report was a bible belonging to a youth member of the church. The name “Grayson” is inscribed on the bible.
It’s believed the offender(s) entered the church Tuesday night, July 16, or the very early morning hours of Wednesday, July 17.
The next-door neighbor said, around 6:30 a.m., he saw a smaller statured person walking north on Askins Road. He said the person was wearing military-style desert camo clothing with a black backpack.
Wednesday afternoon, another person living near the church said two people were walking in the area on KY 110, just across the Breckenridge County line. The person said one of the two walking on KY 110, was wearing a black baseball-style hat with longer hair, a maroon cutoff shirt with no sleeves and mid-section cut and black shorts. The other person was wearing a black shirt and black shorts. Both were picked up by a navy blue 4-door truck.
If you have any information about this case, call the OCSO at 270-298-4444 or the OCSO’s anonymous tip line at 270-298-4446.
