KEY POINTS:
Vandals smeared an organ with raspberry cordial and crushed biscuits, overturned pews and wrenched a collection box from the wall of historic St John's Church in Wakefield, southwest of Nelson.
The 160-year-old church (congregation 75) is the oldest in the South Island.
The vandals threw Bibles about and police believe they tried to set fire to a can of polish.
