A Billings West End church is now the victim of a hate crime.Church leaders at the Mayflower Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Billings found six swastikas and a slur spray painted on one of the church's outside walls, Saturday morning.See how the Billings community came together after the hate crime: 406 Prides stands in solidarity with Mayflower Church after hate crime vandalismThe day before the big Christmas pageant at the Mayflower Congregational Church is usually a day of celebration. But this Saturday, it was anything but, when Pastor Amy Carter came to the place of worship and found a disturbing sight."I'm just really sad that somebody would be filled with so much hate that they feel the need to deface a church of all places," she said.The vandalism on the Rehberg Lane-facing wall isn't the first hate crime at the Mayflower Congregational Church. Just last week, a pride flag with the message "God is still speaking," was torn down. Carter told MTN she believes it's because the church is both progressive and accepting of the LGBTQ+ community."I guess they're just targeting us. I'm assuming they're targeting us because of the stance we're taking... We are very progressive in our understanding of how we live out our faith," she said. Fortunately, there's someone in Billings who understands the pain and fear that Carter is experiencing.Marcus Frye, the board president for 406 Pride, says this isn't an isolated incident."A couple years ago, here at First Congregational Church, we had a couple pride flags torn down," he told MTN.Since the 1960s, the First Congregational Church in downtown Billings has partnered with the Mayflower Congregational Church. Both are of the United Church of Christ denomination.406 Pride, an independent nonprofit that provides unity, acceptance, and fellowship to Montanans who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, has a resource center located inside of the First Congregational Church, where Frye is also an assistant pastor. "Acts like this, the intent for this kind of vandalism and this kind of hate crime, is to force people back into the closet, to make people hide, to make people afraid," Frye said.The hate crime to the Mayflower Congregational Church happens 30 years since the release of "Not in Our Town," a documentary showcasing Billings Montanans coming together in a social movement after a series of hate crimes."When someone in our community is attacked, we take that as an attack on all of us. So we all stand together... The person who did this act is not the entirety of Billings," said Frye. Frye and the 406 Pride team are showing solidarity with the Mayflower Church."I want to make sure that we can support those folks, and even try to make sure that that graffiti doesn't get seen by people coming in to worship," Frye said. "Let us know if we need anything, and we are here for you."Carter said the hate crime has been reported to the Billings Police Department. Before the crime, the Mayflower Congregational Church only had security cameras inside of the building. Carter said after this experience, she's considering getting cameras for the outside of the building."It saddens me, you know, that we have to do those kinds of things," she said.Carter said she forgives whoever committed the crime, wishing for peace and understanding."If they were to come forward, I would love to meet them. I'm just curious about what their motives are," she told MTN. The church is still planning on holding its annual Christmas pageant on Sunday at 10 a.m. regardless of the crime.This story was reported on-air by a journalist, and portions of this article have been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less