Woman Charged with Vandalizing Lake Co. Religious Buildings

A Libertyville church was among the buildings defaced, prosecutors say.

A 22-year-old woman from Gurnee was charged Friday with vandalism and criminal defacement after prosecutors say she went on a six-day spree of spraying graffiti and otherwise damaging 10 religious buildings around Lake County, including one in Libertyville, according to an article in the Daily Herald.

Meghan Heinze was arrested after prosecutors said police officers in traffic court recognized her from surveillance pictures, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.

She is alleged to have sprayed words, upside down crosses and smiley faces on the buildings and used a baseball bat to break windows and doors, the Tribune article says. Investigators said they also found text messages that suggest she was trying to get a gun. Her mother told police she was obsessed with Nazis.

St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Christian Church in Libertyville was among those vandalized, according to the Lake County News-Sun.

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