Virgin Mary statue at St Charbel Church in Punchbowl destroyed by vandals

Canterbury-Bankstown Express

January 29, 2015

A VIRGIN Mary statue has been destroyed by vandals at the St Charbel Church in Punchbowl early this morning.

The statue, which has stood inside a glass enclosure outside the church for more than two decades, was discovered broken in half in around 5am by church volunteers.

The destruction of the 1.2m statue has left the church community shocked and police are now investigating.

Reverend Father Joseph Sleiman from the church said an anonymous person “attacked” the shrine and statue of Our Lady early Thursday morning.

The vandalism “was reported me by one of our devout parishioners at approximately 5:30am,” he said.

Large crowds attend the procession of the cross during a Good Friday church service at St Charbel Church in Punchbowl each year.

“The lady was in tears as she came to me to report that she had seen the shrine and statue of Our Lady broken. I immediately went down to the shrine to view and confirm the ladies story and to my dismay I found that the story was true.”

The community has been deeply affected and shocked by the attack,” he said.

“We would like to state that we strongly condemn any behaviour of this nature to our Church and any place of worship. Our church is place of worship and prayer that should be respected by all.”

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Vision from security cameras outside the church will be viewed as part of police inquiries.

The church holds a popular procession of the cross during a Good Friday church service each year.

The church was set up in 1972 by the Lebanese Maronite Order and a decade later primary and secondary schools were also opened.