BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston police are turning to the public for help as they search for the person responsible for vandalizing statues at several city churches.
Officers responding to a reported vandalism at St. Gregory’s Parish church on Dorchester Avenue about 7:20 p.m. Wednesday spoke with a church official who said someone had just defaced a religious statue by covering it in an unknown red substance, according to police.
The church official also said this is the fourth time in the last month where the same red substance had been found on the statue.
Reverend Jack Ahern told 7News that a morning churchgoer discovered the vandalized statue.
“The first time I thought it was just a silly prank. When it happens two, three, or four teams it’s more hateful, more disturbing,” he said. “We just want to know the why of it.”
Unfortunately- @bostonpolice are investigating more reports of vandalism. Statues at several Catholic churches have been splattered with a red substance. This one is across the street from St Gregory’s in Dorchester. More on @JHall7news at noon. pic.twitter.com/R6klPKRBVU
— Jonathan Hall (@JHall7news) April 11, 2019
Ahern says the hundreds of children who attend classes at the church’s school are “heartbroken” by the acts of vandalism.
The incident came a little more than a month after Boston police officers responded to similarly damage statues at Most Precious Blood Church and St. Anne’s Church in Hyde Park. A witness at St. Anne’s said a black woman had been seen spraying something on statues, and when she was confronted, she said she was just praying before leaving the area in a white sedan.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Boston Police Civil Rights Unit at 617-343-4527.
Those who would like to provide anonymous tips can call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or text the word TIP to CRIME (27463).
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)