BATON ROUGE - A women's health office was allegedly vandalized and spray-painted overnight.

The Women's New Life Clinic in Baton Rouge said its workers found the building and signage around it painted in bright red with messages such as "abortion is a right" and "fake clinic." The office offers certain services and hopes to persuade women seeking care alternatives to abortions.

The agency said it believes the vandalism was done by pro-choice advocates. 

The Baton Rouge Police Department said it was notified around 6:30 a.m. of the incident on Colonial Drive and are investigating.

The property being defaced comes about a week after a pro-life activist scuffled with a worker at the abortion clinic next door.  The worker at the clinic was ticketed with battery in the dust-up. 

The Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom issued the following statement Tuesday:

While we do not see vandalism as the response to what is happening, let’s also make sure folks understand that this is a sham facility that is preying on people at a time when real reproductive health care from trained professionals is being taken away.

Folks are scared and angry, and these fake clinics are taking state money to judge and coerce folks, deny them information about the full range of options, and make an already difficult situation that much worse. Rather than buying spray paint, send that money to a local abortion fund.

If you have energy and want to do something, call local reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations and ask how you can help. We need HELP! Let’s not give more attention to the folks taking money that should be used to close critical gaps in care that people need to live. Instead, get organized and get working together to make things better for folks in our state who need our support and a movement that needs a long-term commitment to action to push for positive change.