Two statues of Catholic saints that had stood outside a downtown Denver church for more than 80 years were stolen early March 5 after a suspect used tools to pry them from the building. The church’s pastor described the theft as “a personal attack” on the parish community.
According to a local report from FOX31 Denver, security cameras captured the suspect arriving on a skateboard around 4 a.m. before using what appeared to be a hammer, chisel, and crowbar to remove the statues of St. Paul and St. Rita from the exterior of Holy Ghost Catholic Church. Church staff discovered the damage later that morning.
The two statues had been mounted beside the church’s front entrance since the parish opened in 1943.
Father Paul Nguyen, pastor of Holy Ghost, told FOX31 that the theft felt deeply personal to the community.
“The church here represents, for really all of Denver for the whole of our existence, a place of hope, right? A place of second chances,” Fr. Nguyen said.
The theft left only chipped stone and exposed metal screws where the statues had been mounted, according to the report.
“It’s a personal attack, right? It’s shocking,” Fr. Nguyen told the news station. “Why would somebody want to do it?”
He said the two saints had long been part of the church’s identity.
“The whole of the legacy of this place is kind of commemorated in the images of these saints,” Fr. Nguyen said.
One of the statues depicted St. Paul holding a sword, a traditional symbol associated with the apostle. Fr. Nguyen joked that “if you rob a saint with a sword, you’re asking for trouble.”
The parish filed a report with the Denver Police Department and is asking anyone with information about the theft to come forward.
Despite the damage, the Fr. Nguyen said the parish hopes the statues might still be returned.
“As much as there could be a price of justice that could be assigned here,” he said, “what we would love is to have the saints here welcoming everyone to the church once again.”