SACRAMENTO, CA - Graffiti from an exceptionally violent street gang showed up Wednesday on a church in Auburn, providing a wakeup call for the community that MS-13 may be active there.

"The kids were being dropped off at school (Tuesday morning) and a lot of the kids were shocked. They were a little scared, shaken up," said Jeff Martin, one of the pastors at Calvary Chapel Church on Auburn Ravine Road.

"We've had trash, a little bit of scribbling on the walls but nothing of this nature," said Martin. He said when he left Monday evening the sign was clean.

Defacing the stone sign at the entrance to the church was a spray-painted gang sign of MS-13, a symbol of Mara Salvatrucha. MS-13 originated in Los Angeles by immigrants from El Salvador and spread to other Central American countries and many large cities in the U.S.

The FBI considers Mara Salvatrucha one of the most violent street gangs around.

"It seems legitimately gang related," said Officer James Dalton of the Auburn Police Department, analyzing the graffiti. "The format and the fonts, the way the number one has an image at the top."

Dalton said there's no way to know if whoever did the vandalism is a true MS-13 gangster or an associate but believes there's some connection.

"Maybe it's a family member, maybe it's a friend of the family but there certainly seems to be an influence there, gang related," said Dalton.

The overall problem of graffiti seems to be growing in Auburn, especailly in the past several months.

"I see it up and down (Highway) 49. It's frustrating. I don't know what we can do about it," said one Aubrun resident Bruce Kelley. And he is well aware of the MS13's reputation.

"Very concerning, very concerning," said Kelley about the church vandalism. "I don't want them anywhere I work or anybody else's business in town."

Just last week, the Auburn skatepark was hit by graffiti twice in two nights. It was not gang related, but involved curse words and apparently some racial slurs.

"We typically don't see a lot of this activity all at once, especially with the messages it's delivering," said Dalton. "It's frustrating to property owners. It's frustrating for business owners and it's an eyesore."

Dalton said the message to community members is to be more watchful and to report any graffiti they see.

"Not necessarily look at every young person with a suspicious eye but just be aware that this is happening," he said.

As for Martin and the people at Calvary Chapel church, eyes have already been opened. They covered the sign once they discovered the vandalism, and after hand scrubbing failed to remove it, they had the stone sign sandblasted by Wednesday afternoon.

"Now we've got a violent gang and we're realizing, I am, for the first time that they're now in Auburn," said Martin. "It's very alarming. And I hope it doesn't mean there's more to come, meaning the violence and so forth."

"We'll pray for them."

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