The New York Police Department is looking into the vandalism of a Virgin Mary statue outside St. Rita Roman Catholic Church in Long Island City as a potential hate crime, after a man was captured on video climbing a fence and attacking the statue with a hammer.
Surveillance footage shared by the Diocese of Brooklyn shows a masked individual repeatedly striking the religious statue outside the Queens church, in what Catholic leaders describe as the newest incident in a troubling series of attacks involving the parish.
A statue of the Virgin Mary was damaged outside St. Rita Roman Catholic Church in Long Island City. (St. Rita’s Church)
Church officials said in a news release that the latest act of vandalism marks the fourth reported incident targeting St. Rita Roman Catholic Church since 2024. The NYPD is now examining whether the damage should be classified as a hate crime.
The Diocese of Brooklyn said the attack occurred at approximately 1:42 a.m. on August 1.
The Diocese said the attack was the fourth reported vandalism incident at St. Rita Roman Catholic Church since 2024. (St. Rita Roman Catholic Church)
In the video, the man, dressed in a dark T-shirt and shorts, scales the fence and enters a courtyard where the statue of the Blessed Mother was displayed.
Authorities say the suspect then pulls a hammer from his pocket and strikes the statue several times, eventually toppling it from its pedestal, before climbing back over the fence and leaving the scene.
The Diocese said in a statement that the attack was the fourth vandalism incident at St. Rita Roman Catholic Church since 2024.
Surveillance video released by the church shows a masked man, in a dark shirt and shorts, jumping over a fence into a courtyard where a statue of the Blessed Mother stood. (St. Rita’s Church.)
Past acts of vandalism in the parish include the destruction of a 60-year-old stained-glass window and graffiti that defaced a statue of St. Francis of Assisi and the sidewalk.
There was also damage done to a statue of St. Jude inside the church.
The Diocese of Brooklyn told News Outlet that no arrests have been made.
“This week, the NYPD also issued a crime stats update and hate crimes are up by 9.4% over the same 7-month period (Jan-July) of last year,” John Quaglione, Deputy Press Secretary for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn said.
