A number of Catholic churches and holy symbols across the country were torched and vandalized over the weekend and authorities are now investigating whether the incidents are related to the ongoing riots and toppling of statues.
On July 11, a statue of the Virgin Mary displayed outside of a church in Boston, Massachusetts, was torched and burned by vandals, the Boston Police Department said in a statement.
The Boston Fire Department Fire Investigation Unit told officers that the suspect set fire to the plastic flowers, which were in the hands of the statue, causing damage to the face and upper body of the statue. No one has been arrested.
In New York on July 10, a Virgin Mary statue in was vandalized in the Queens borough. The suspect wrote “IDOL” in spray paint on the statue around 3:09 a.m., the NYPD said.
????WANTED for CRIMINAL MISCHIEF: On 7/10, around 3:09 AM, an unidentified person was captured on surveillance video spray painting “IDOL” on a Virgin Mary statue in front of 56-25 92 St in Queens and fled in unknown direction.
Any information call/DM @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/9jUDA3MR19
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 12, 2020
Anyone with information on the suspect was asked to call 800-577-TIPS.
Florida Man Crashes Into Church
In another incident on July 11, a Florida man was arrested after he crashed his vehicle into a Catholic church and attempted to set fire to the building as people were inside preparing for Mass, authorities said.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said Steven Shields, 24, crashed his van into the doors of the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Ocala on Saturday morning. Shields then got out, poured gasoline on the ground, and set it on fire, officials said.
Shields drove away after the incident but was stopped by a sheriff’s deputy, the office said.
“The parishioners were able to escape without injury and Marion County Fire Rescue personnel were able to quickly extinguish the fire,” said the sheriff’s office.
Shields was charged with attempted second-degree murder, one count of arson to a structure, burglary of an occupied structure, and other crimes. He is being held in a local jail without bond.
California Church Destroyed
Meanwhile in California, a fire also on July 11 destroyed the rooftop and most of the interior of a Catholic church in San Gabriel that was undergoing renovation to mark its upcoming 250th-anniversary celebration.
Fire alarms at the San Gabriel Mission went off around 4 a.m. When firefighters arrived, they saw smoke rising from the wooden rooftop in one corner of the historic structure, San Gabriel Fire Capt. Paul Negrete said.
Firefighters entered the church and tried to beat back the flames, but they had to retreat when roofing and other structural materials began to fall, Negrete said.
After evacuating the church, the crew was joined by up to 50 firefighters who tried to douse water on the 50-foot-high structure from ladder trucks, he said.
“The roof is completely gone,” the captain said. “The fire traversed the wood rapidly. The interior is pretty much destroyed up into the altar area.”
The cause of the fire was under investigation, Negrete said. He said the recent toppling of monuments to Junipero Serra, the founder of the California mission system who has long been a symbol of oppression among Indigenous activists, will be a factor in the investigation.
In Alabama on July 11, first responders were called to the Faith Tabernacle Pentecostal Church in Limestone County after a section caught fire, according to reports.
A 100-Year-Old Church up in Flames
One weekend earlier in Missouri, the Harmony Baptist Church was burned to the ground on July 5, according to Johnson County Fire Protection District.
The department released pictures of the surveillance video from a potential suspect in the arson attack in Johnson County, where the 100-year-old church went up in flames.
“The cause of the fire was determined to be incendiary (intentionally ignited) in nature initiating an arson investigation,” the department wrote in the caption of the post. “Attached are several photographs from surveillance video of a suspect and a vehicle used by the suspect. We need your assistance in identifying this suspect.”
It took firefighters from four different departments over two hours to douse the raging blaze, which caused between $400,000 and $500,000 of damage, The Sun reported.
“The loss of the historic church will have a lasting effect on the rural community and members of the church,” Fire Chief Larry Jennings told the outlet.
Authorities have asked the public for help in identifying the suspect.
Anyone with information can contact the Missouri State Fire Marshal at 1-800-39-ARSON (1-800-392-7766) or the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) by texting “ATFKC” to 63975.
The Associated Press and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
