St. Peter's Italian Catholic Church Vandalized With Red Paint, Banner Demands 'Land Back'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — St. Peter's Italian Catholic Church was found vandalized Monday, apparently in protest of Christopher Columbus and the European colonization of the Americas.
The façade of the church, which is at 1039 N. Broadway in Downtown LA, was found marred by big splotches of red paint Monday morning. Messages were also found spray-painted at different spots in front of the church, including one that said, "land back."
A banner left behind said "stop colonizing our land."
The LAPD says they were first notified of the vandalism at 9:12 a.m. Officers have taken a report, but it's not clear if anyone has taken responsibility for the vandalism, or if there are any suspects.
Monday has historically been celebrated as Columbus Day but in Los Angeles is observed as Indigenous People's Day. The holiday was established to mark Italian explorer Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas, but in recent years, activists and historians have argued against celebrating his legacy because intended to find a new route to Indian, and brought diseases to the continent that wiped out native Americans, who also had their land stolen by violence.