A churchwarden said she is 'devastated' after vandals smashed windows at a Pakefield Church.

Lowestoft Journal: The damage left behind by vandals who smashed windows at a Pakefield church. PHOTO: Nick ButcherThe damage left behind by vandals who smashed windows at a Pakefield church. PHOTO: Nick Butcher (Image: (C)archant2017)

The window panes were broken in the early hours of Friday morning at All Saints and St Margaret Church in Pakefield and police say they will be interviewing three teenage boys in connection with the vandalism.

More than 30 panes of glass in the church's windows were smashed, leaving them with hundreds of pounds worth of repairs to be carried out.

Churchwarden Sandra Sacks first saw the smashed windows on Good Friday, just as the church was gearing up for its Easter celebrations.

'They must have really hit them hard because there was glass half way across the church,' she said. 'I was devastated really. Especially over Easter, it's really an important time for us and we found it like this.'

And although the church has been targeted by vandals in the past, Mrs Sacks said she is still upset by the latest act of criminal damage.

'It happened once before about five or six years ago but we've not had any other problems,' she said. 'It's very upsetting and it costs us money. It's unnecessary vandalism – what they're getting out of it I don't know.'

In a message on its website, the church asked its congregation to include the vandals in their prayers during the week.

The prayer guide invites people to think of 'the vandals who smashed windows in the church on Thursday night, that they would discover God's love and purpose for their lives.'

The church does have CCTV but the cameras do not cover the area where the vandalism took place.

Suffolk Police said officers had spoken to three teenagers in connection with the criminal damage.

A spokesman for the force said: 'Three teenage boys were spoken to by police officers following the incident and will be formally interviewed in due course.'

Police were responding to another incident in the area when they were called to the church in Causeway.

Anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area or has any information should contact Suffolk Police on 101 quoting reference 28800/17.