He smashed a sacred religious statue at NJ church, police say

✝️ Video captured the man pushing the Our Lady of Fatima statue from its pedestal

✝️ It took two attempts to make the statue fall

✝️ The church says the statue cannot be repaired

HARRISON — Police have posted a picture of an individual they say is responsible for destroying a monument in front of Holy Cross Church on Tuesday afternoon.

RLS Metro Breaking News reports the individual was captured on security video at the church on Harrison Avenue around 12:30 p.m. trying to push the Our Lady of Fatima in front of the church off its pedestal by leaning on it. The person left only to return several minutes later.

The person tried one more time and was successful, shattering the statue into several pieces and walking away. RLS reported that a friend of the church's priest noticed the destruction and reported it.

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Unrepairable statue

The priest told ABC 7 Eyewitness News the statue is unrepairable, which has upset the church's congregation.

According to the Catholic News Agency, Fatima is a village in Portugal where the Virgin Mary appeared several times to three children in 1917. She encouraged the children to accept suffering "as an act of reparation for the sins which offend Him, and to pray constantly for the conversion of sinners."

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