Vandal destroys statue of Virgin Mary with hammer in NY Catholic church

Statue of the Virgin Mary vandalized at the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Rita, New York. Photo: LifeSiteNews

Another act of vandalism has occurred at a Catholic church in Queens: an unknown man smashed a statue of the Virgin Mary with a hammer, knocking it off its pedestal, reports QNS.

The incident occurred in the early morning of August 1 in the courtyard of Saint Rita's Church in the Dutch Kills neighborhood (Queens, New York). According to security camera footage, a man jumped over the fence and beheaded the statue of the Mother of God with a hammer, after which it fell from its pedestal.

According to the Brooklyn Diocese, this is already the fourth case of vandalism at this parish since 2024: previously, a stained glass window was smashed here, a statue of Saint Jude inside the church was damaged, and in April of this year the word "PAGAN" was written on the sidewalk in front of the statue of Saint Francis of Assisi.

The investigation of the incident was taken up by the hate crimes unit of the New York Police Department. The suspect is described as a light-skinned man with dark hair.

As the UOJ reported, in Bosnia vandals desecrated a statue of the Mother of God and set fire to an altar.

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