A Catholic church in Long Island, New York, was vandalized March 21, just days after a Catholic church in Far Rockaway, NY, was vandalized. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is reportedly investigating both incidents.
At around 8 p.m. March 14, an unidentified individual approached a statue of the Blessed Virgin March at St. Gertrude’s Roman Catholic Church in Far Rockaway, which is in the Diocese of Brooklyn, and knocked the statue over. The vandal proceeded to smash the statue “to pieces,” according to QNS, a Queens news source.
“This was the third attack on the statue in less than three months,” the outlet noted. The damage to the statue, which is 100 years old, is “considered irreparable.”
Last weekend at St. Gertrude’s in Far Rockaway, the statue of the Blessed Mother was attacked for the second time this year. This time it cannot be repaired, but it will be replaced. NYPD has classified it as a Hate Crime and are investigating. @BrooklynDiocese pic.twitter.com/v0GOBeP6gn
— John Quaglione (@JohnQuaglione) March 24, 2026
Days later, a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi was vandalized at St. Rita’s Roman Catholic Church in Long Island. Parishioners on their way to Mass March 21 discovered the statue covered with blue spray paint. According to QNS, the church’s security camera recorded a vandal spray painting the statue earlier that morning at about 6:30 a.m. The vandal also spray-painted the word “PAGAN” on the sidewalk in front of the statue.
The incident was the third vandalism attack against the statue in two years, according to the outlet.
In a statement to CBS News, a local resident expressed dismay over the vandalism.
“I opened up the door, looked across the street, and saw the blue paint. [I was] mortified. Why would somebody do something like that?" said Anthony Torre, who owns a shop across from St. Rita’s Church. Torre said he helped powerwash off much of the spray paint.
Father Felix Sanchez, the pastor of St. Rita’s, told CBS that he is worried about people “not feeling free to express their faith” and that he wants parishioners to still see the church as a safe haven. He also extended a message of forgiveness to the vandal.
“In the mentality of dialogue and understanding, you are welcome. You are welcome,” he said. “And we are going to keep going on in our faith.”