NEW YORK- On Saturday, February 20th, Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) helped clean-up graffiti on the rectory wall of Saint Francis Xavier Church in Morris Park.

Saint Francis Xavier Pastor Father Matthew Fiore reached out to Senator Klein's office after finding the graffiti on the rectory wall on the first floor of the church on the morning of Friday, February 19, 2010. As part of Klein’s graffiti clean-up program, the Senator sent over a crew and even sprayed down some of the graffiti himself within 24 hours of the Pastor contacting his office.

"It is extremely disturbing whenever individuals choose to vandalize houses of worship, as these are sacred institutions that enrich our lives and communities. In an ongoing effort to combat this from happening in the future, I've sponsored legislation in the Senate which would implement harsher penalties for vandals who tag any house of worship. This kind of legislation would send would be vandals a clear message---we will catch you and you will pay," said Klein.

“It’s a shame that this kind of thing would happen in a nice neighborhood like this and especially to a church, but every time something bad happens the good comes out. I thank Senator Klein for quickly taking action and cleaning it up. I hope whoever did this will use their talent for the good and not for destruction,” said Father Matthew.