News4’s Derrick Ward gets reaction from a church community after the church was found vandalized with green paint a week ago.
Two D.C. churches recently vandalized with green paint opened their doors to worshipers Sunday.
Green paint was found splattered in the National Cathedral and the Luther Place Memorial Church last week. The churches were two of four Washington landmarks vandalized with paint.
Police arrested 58-year-old Jiamei Tian Monday afternoon inside the Children's Chapel of the National Cathedral after she allegedly covered the National Cathedral's organ and areas of the Children's Chapel with green paint.
A similar green paint was later discovered at the Luther Place Memorial Church at Thomas Circle and on a statue memorializing Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
At Luther Place, the paint was found in several places: on a statue of Martin Luther, on the exterior of the building, and on an organ inside. The damage was discovered Sunday after the church's noon service. Luther Place Assistant Minister Kathryn Perry recalls seeing Tian sitting in one of the church's pews before the church was vandalized.
"She smiled back and gave a little bow,' Perry said.
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Perry told News4's Derrick Ward it was only after the paint had been spattered and after Tian had been named as a suspect that she made a connection, but she warns its a tenuous one.
But as parishioners filled the pews Sunday, the organ pipes at Luther Place Memorial Church were as pristine as they've ever been. The paint mixed with human waste has been cleaned off.
Outside, the statue of Martin Luther gazed skyward, mindful of things other than the earthly bother of having been vandalized.
Although Tian has only been charged in the cathedral case, authorities say they believe she's connected to acts of vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial, at Luther Place Memorial Church and on the pedestal of a Smithsonian statue.
She has since been released to a halfway house. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 26.
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