NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – A woman destroyed a pair of decades-old religious statues at a Catholic church in Queens this weekend, police said Sunday as they released video of the suspect.
The statues of the Blessed Mother and St. Therese the Little Flower were outside Our Lady of Mercy on Kessel Street in Forest Hills.
Surveillance video shows the woman, believed to be in her mid-20s, pulling the statues down and then smashing them and dragging them into the street around 3:30 a.m. Saturday.
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.
Parishioners told WCBS-TV that the statues have been outside the church since 1937. A sign was placed on the broken statues, reading, “Please pray for the person who did this.”
The church told the station that the statues were knocked over earlier in the week and that they believe the same woman is behind both acts of vandalism.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
