Vandal Destroys Statue of Virgin Mary, 249th Attack on a Catholic Church Since Dobbs Leak
Police are investigating an incident of vandalism that took place last week in Oklahoma, where a suspect forcibly toppled and broke a historic statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a statue of the Holy Family outside of a local Catholic church.
The vandalism took place on April 19 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Upon discovering the toppled statues, the parish reported the vandalism, which was caught on security cameras, to local police.
Three people were seen on camera when the vandalism took place, but only one of them is reportedly seen damaging the statues.
Associate pastor Fr. Robert Dye told local news outlet the Muskogee Phoenix, “It looks like someone came up to both statues and pushed them over… One of them, you can see him pushing hard. It took some effort. It was bolted down.”
The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which parish members said was more than 100 years old, was found shattered on the sidewalk by the church.
“I just remember how beautiful she is. She just had the most beautiful face ever,” parishioner Susan Lacey told the Muskogee Phoenix, describing the historic Marian statue. “It’s just breaking my heart.”
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The other toppled statue, which depicted Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, was knocked into a flower bed. According to Muskogee Phoenix, the statue of the Holy Family, installed only a few months ago, was “mostly intact.”
The statue of the Holy Family is valued at $1,200, and the historic statue of the Blessed Virgin is valued up to $10,000. Neither statue had any graffiti on them, Fr. Dye noted.
CatholicVote’s Violence Tracker has documented more than 400 attacks and vandalisms against Catholic churches across the United States since May 2020.
LifeNews Note: McKenna Snow writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared. Photo credit: Dcn. Garlick, Chancellor (@HarrisonGarlic1) / Twitter
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