Warren County residents are coming to the aid of a local church that was vandalized twice earlier this week.

Mount Alban M.B. Church pastor Rev. Henry Taylor said church members have been receiving calls from county residents offering to help pay for the damage that occurred on Sunday and Monday nights when vandals broke glass doors and windows on two buildings at the church on Mount Alban Road.

The vandals also defaced the property by writing profanity on the church’s driveway.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said deputies took a 13-year-old boy into custody Wednesday in connection with the vandalism. The teen is being held in the Warren County Youth Detention Center.

Taylor said the damage was the first time the church has been vandalized. He said the vandals did not attempt to enter the building because the church’s burglar alarm did not go off.

“Apparently they just stood outside and broke all the glass,” he said.

“We’ve had kids come over before and sit on the steps,” Taylor said. “It’s a pretty quiet neighborhood; we’ve never had any problems with them. The neighbors are really friendly, but I don’t know why that happened at that time.

“It’s a neighborhood-friendly church where we’ve never had any problems before. I would say personally some kids were crying out for attention and (had) nothing else to do, were bored and they went over there and decided to bust the glass out.”

After the Sunday incident, Taylor said, the damage, which included a glass door on the church’s new building, was repaired, “They came out (Monday) and bust it out again.”

He said the vandals left a cooler full of rocks and the chalk used to write on the pavement.

“The community has really been supportive of this situation,” he said of the response to the incident.

Pace said people have also been calling his office about helping.

“We’re getting a lot of cooperation from people; they want to help,” Pace said.

Taylor said an account has been established at Trustmark Bank for donations for the church.

He said, however, the church will not start repairs immediately.

“We will not replace the windows until they install surveillance cameras on the church, which is supposed to be done next week,” Taylor said.

The vandalism remains under investigation and sheriff’s investigators are searching for any information that would lead to an arrest of other individuals responsible for the vandalism.

If anyone has any information, they are asked to contact the Warren County Sheriff’s Office at 601-636-1761.