Statues vandalized
Surveillance captures destruction outside a church in Queens
Surveillance captures a person destroying religious statues at Queens church.
Startling surveillance video released by police Sunday shows the moment a vandal toppled an 84-year-old religious statue outside a Queens church.
The video shows the woman rocking the statue in front of Our Lady of Mercy parish in Forest Hills until it falls over about 3:30 a.m. Saturday. She then dragged it out into the driveway where she continued to smash it.
The woman also toppled another statue during the attack on Kessel Street near 70th Avenue, police said. She used a hammer to ultimately smash the two statues, which depict the Blessed Mother and St. Therese the Little Flower.
Both of the statues date back to 1937, when the house of worship was founded.
“Both of these statues have stood in front of the church since it was built,” said church pastor Father Frank Schwarz. “It is heartbreaking, but sadly it is becoming more and more common these days. I pray this recent rash of attacks against Catholic churches and all houses of worship will end.”
The attacker lugged the statues 180 feet across 70th Avenue before smashing the sculptures into pieces, said Quaglione.
A pair of similar incidents happened in May during a three-day stretch of vandalism. In one of the incidents, the vandals chopped off the head of a statue of the infant Jesus outside the diocesan chancery in Brooklyn on May 16.
The police Hate Crimes Task Force was notified about Saturday’s possible bias incident.
Police are asking the public’s help identifying the assailant and tracking her down.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.