Houston, Texas, Mar 27, 2008 / 00:22 am
During Holy Week a Catholic church in Houston was targeted by iconoclastic vandals who in separate incidents damaged two statues of the Virgin Mary and sprayed an anti-Catholic slur on the church building.
One vandal painted an apparent threat expressing a belief that Catholics worship idols.
The incidents took place during services on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday at All Saints Catholic Church, the Houston Chronicle reports.
After the 12:30 p.m. Palm Sunday Mass parishioners noticed that a four-foot tall marble statue of Our Lady of Lourdes had been pulled from its pedestal during the service. Since 1945 the statue had been displayed at the front of the church in the parish grotto, which was dedicated to veterans of World War II. It had been closed for renovation.