134-year-old historic church vandalized in Philadelphia's Society Hill

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Cleanup is underway after vandals damaged a historic church in Philadelphia's Society Hill section early Monday morning.

Windows were left shattered after a witness reported seeing a man throwing rocks through first-floor windows at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., according to police.

"For that church -- which is iconic -- to be attacked, is shocking," said Reverend Mark Kelly Tyler. "Those windows were put in in 1890 when the current building was built."

The man was then seen running away on Lombard, towards 7th Street.

"Unfortunately, it's part of the world that we live in today," he said. "Even a church is not considered sacred."

Reverend Tyler says the damage was discovered by a cleaning crew.

"We've had experiences like this during my tenure before. They don't happen frequently, which is a good thing, but sometimes they do and oftentimes you're left with nothing but the cleanup and to move on without any answer as to why," the reverend said.

This church is a designated National Historic Landmark and just last month, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced the 134-year-old church would receive $90,000 to help rehabilitate these original stained glass windows.

"It's very sad, it's very sad," said Merry Jones, of Fairmount. "This is our history and it's shared by everybody and for someone to just attack it -- it's brutal."