A bearded and masked man was captured on security footage vaulting over the fence of the Saint Rita Roman Catholic Church in Long Island City, Queens, and smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary with a hammer.
The incident occurred just before 2 a.m. on Saturday. The man, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, entered the church courtyard, used a hammer from his pocket to strike the statue, causing its head to break off and roll onto the ground, and then scaled the fence to leave the scene.
The Diocese of Brooklyn stated that this is the fourth attack on the church since 2024. Previous incidents include the smashing of a stained-glass window, the defacing of a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, and graffiti on the sidewalk. A statue of St. Jude inside the church was also damaged.
The New York City Police Department is investigating the incident as a potential hate crime. According to John Quaglione, deputy press secretary for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, hate crimes are up by 9.4 percent over the same seven-month period last year, based on a recent NYPD crime statistics update.
No arrests have been made in connection with the attack, the Diocese of Brooklyn confirmed. Parishioners have expressed shock and dismay, questioning the motive behind such destructive acts.
Last November, the church experienced another attack where a picture of Saint Anthony was vandalized and the floor was defaced with writing. Churchgoers have voiced their confusion and sorrow over the repeated targeting of their place of worship.