TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA)--Tupelo police say churches have been burglarized in the north Green Street area.
Reverend Gary Long, pastor of Springhill Missionary Baptist Church, says someone broke into his church last Friday searching for money.
The church also owns the building next door and it was broken into as well.
"But both buildings, this church and our old church, seem like they were broken into by the same people," said Long.
"It happended Friday night sometime Friday night. One of our deacons came to clean up the church Saturday morning and we got a call that our church had been broken into. So that's when we, of course, called the police. And then everybody got involved. That's when we found out both of the churches had been broken into," he added.
Police tell us that a third church was burglarized, but would not give the name.
Pastor Long admits that three church break-ins in the area is alarming.
However, he is not judging the community as a whole.
"I guess I'm saying the safer the church is, the safer the community is; because all three are related. The church is related to the community. And the community is related to the church. Even the street that the church sits on, everybody on that street is related to the church. And everybody in the communty are all related. And I'm going to have to say including the people who had something to do with the break-in," Long stated.
Long says a church break-in during this time of year is especially troubling because it is one of the holiest times for the Christian faith.
