Miami Archdiocese urges police to investigate decapitation of Jesus statue as hate crime

The Miami Archdiocese is encouraging authorities to investigate the beheading of a statue of Jesus Christ inside a South Florida church as a hate crime.

“Investigate this desecration as a hate crime,” the Archdiocese of Miami told Local 10 News in Florida. “This is another attack on the Catholic Church which is happening across the country.”

The statue was found decapitated at Good Shepherd Catholic Church on Wednesday, that church’s Deacon Edivaldo da Silva told Local 10.

“This morning I found it on the ground, and we presume that it is vandalism,” said da Silva.

Jesus statue found vandalized at a church in Kendall. The Archdiocese of Miami wants it investigated as a hate crime @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/8Xvf0Yhmvk

— Christian De La Rosa (@delarosaWPLG) July 16, 2020

The deacon said the incident was part of a growing number of vandalism reports at Catholic churches across the United States.

Earlier this week, Boston authorities were called to investigate after a statue of the Virgin Mary was set on fire at a Roman Catholic parish in Massachusetts.

Deacon da Silva said his church uses many security cameras around various points of the building. However, no cameras were pointing where the statue was standing. 

He added that he hoped other surveillance footage would be able to reveal some information as to who was behind the vandalism.