Police investigating after religious statue beheaded at East Islip church
EAST ISLIP, Long Island (WABC) -- A religious statue at an East Islip church was decapitated and police on Long Island are searching for the person responsible.
Authorities want to find the person who removed the head from a Sacred Heart of Jesus statue at St. Mary's Church.
Susan Martin was taken aback when she walked up to the church and saw the beheaded statue.
"It's very upsetting, I think about it and I get very upset," Martin said.
The disturbing discovery was made on Sunday morning as children were making their first holy communion. The statue's head was found in a garden.
"When we looked at the videos, we saw a young man in a winter coat and backpack come up," Rev. Anthony Iaconis said. "He climbed up and I'm thinking that he tried to topple the whole statue."
"I wish people would just leave religious things alone," Islip resident Joshua Koda said. "Just because you might not agree with the religion or you may be a different religion, or an atheist, respect other people's beliefs. It doesn't take much to be a decent human being."
Police were called to the East Islip Catholic church at 11 a.m. on Sunday and the Hate Crimes Unit is investigating. Since then, people have been coming to honor the desecrated statue with flowers and candles.
"It is heartwarming to say in this moment of sadness that people will reach out and help," Iaconis said.
Iaconis said the parishioners are praying for whoever committed this crime.
Following the act of vandalism, people have been donating to have the statue repaired and Iaconis said there have been fake pages created for the donations, so any donations should be made directly to the parish.
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