The New York Police Department is currently seeking leads on a woman who destroyed two 84-year-old statues outside a Catholic church in Queens.
The Diocese of Brooklyn reports that someone had decided to swipe and move two statues from the front of a local church and smash the contents.
The incident happened at around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday. The subject in question dragged two figures out of the church facility, then broke them outside on 70th Avenue and spat upon their remains. Someone had previously knocked over the statues earlier that week. Local law enforcement suspects that the same subject may have caused the two incidents.
When asked their opinion as to why the statues may have been targeted, Rev. Frank Schwarz told CBS News that "I don't know if it's just a general anti-religion sentiment or just people who aren't well who have some kind of vendetta against churches." However, Schwarze does believe that the assailant "...Deliberately went and destroyed these things. It wasn't enough just to topple then. She had a rage. She stomped on it and spat on it," Some suspect potential connections to the growing trend of anti-Catholic violence. However, no proof or correlation has been established.
The two statues were of the Blessed Mother Mary and St. Therese the Little Flower. The statues were initially put up in 1937 and have been on display outside since. Surveillance footage seems to imply that the subject was a female but has yet to be identified.
