Ukrainian Church in Chicago Targeted on Palm Sunday

Fireworks were set off outside Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church

Chicago Police are investigating an incident targeting a Ukrainian Catholic church on the city's Northwest Side.

The church said fireworks were thrown at Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church in the 700 block of North Oakley Boulevard during the church's Palm Sunday Mass.

"On this Kvitna Nedila, we just had another incident on our property," the church wrote in a Facebook message to parishioners, asking "please be aware of anyone suspicious when coming this weekend."

Police said they don't know who set off the fireworks, but some members of the church suspect it's connected with the unrest in Ukraine and worry what could happen on Easter Sunday when the church is packed with worshipers.

"I'm afraid to go there," parishioner Natalya Zhuravel said. "I'm afraid to send my family."

Zhuravel said her mother was in the church with her son when the fireworks went off.

"[They] got scared," she said, "And my husband ... heard it as well on the third floor."

This isn't the first time the church was targeted. In February, someone threw large nails in the parking lot while people were at Mass.

There are cameras on premises, and the church hopes surveillance will help police catch the culprit.

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