Posted on 05/13/2016 2:45:20 PM PDT by Morgana
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (ChurchMilitant.com) - Police are investigating acts of vandalism and subsequent threats levied against a Catholic church in Florida.
According to reports, Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Delray Beach, Florida was defaced Tuesday night by unknown vandals who spray painted satanic symbols and other imagery on multiple statues and the sides of church buildings. An office administrator, who first discovered the crimes Wednesday morning, asserts pentagrams and other "satanic" signs were painted on the walls. Additionally, three statues had black masks and capes spray painted on them.
"It was awful to look at," the church employee, identified only as Gloria, stated. "It's desecration. How could someone do that to a sacred statue?" Image Vandals painted a black mask on a statue of Our Lady
Gloria also related she discovered a dead bird placed in front of a large statue of Our Lady. "At first, I thought it had just fallen out of a tree, but when I looked closer, there was blood," she said. "You could tell it had been killed." Image The statue's mantle painted black
Our Lady of Guadalupe, the statue in front of which the bird was discovered, is one of the most heavily damaged, with vandals having sprayed black paint on the entire mantle of the statue, in addition to several spots on the face. A second statue of Our Lady had a black mask painted on her face.
"It's not a prank," asserted retired pastor Fr. Alex Dalpiaz. "It's devilish ... it's hatred, I would say."
The assaults did not end Tuesday night, however. The local sheriff's office reports the church received an anonymous phone call Wednesday threatening further vandalism if the parish made any attempts to repair the damage. "We don't want them to come back and do more damage," noted one parishioner.
With the help of volunteers, the church has begun painting over the pentagrams on the building walls and are working on a plan to have the statues repaired and repainted. The parish administration also plans on installing security cameras to deter future vandals.
The crimes are the newest in a string of vandalism against Catholic churches across the country. In late March, a series of attacks occurred in the archdiocese of Boston, in which delinquents spray painted several statues and even cut off the head and arms of a statue of Our Lady. Late last year a parish in Livonia, Michigan was also vandalized, with the perpetrators painting a statue of St. Colette red and writing the message "Rome Will Fall" on the church doors.
VIDEO AND IMAGES ON LINK
Bunch of edgy idiot teens.
Seems to be a lot of that going around these days.
Pentagrams.
Or maybe this: (D).
It would be a hate crime if done to a gay bar.
The one on the right looks like a pile of feces with flies hovering.
Yup.
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