NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Police are searching for three teen boys seen smashing a concrete angel statue outside a church in Queens last week in an act of vandalism that police are investigating as a hate crime.
The NYPD released video Sunday of the trio roaming around behind Holy Family Roman Catholic Church on 74th Avenue in Fresh Meadows last Thursday night.
Video shows two of them picking up the statue and pulling it over a fence before running off with it. One of them then turns around and tosses the statue to the ground, causing it to break into pieces, video shows.
The total property damage was estimated at $500, police said.
At Sunday Mass, parishioner James said he felt “slightly violated.”
“Because this is a sacred place, it’s part of the community,” he said.
“We’re entering Holy Week next week,” Father Sean Suckiel said, “and this has to be on our back, worrying about are our statues going to be okay, are we going to be vandalized again?”
Suckiel believes the vandalism may have been part of a TikTok challenge.
In the surveillance vide, it appears one of the boys is recording the vandalism.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating.
The three suspects are believed to be between 15 and 17 years old.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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