Virgin Mary statue vandalized; metropolis councilor requires hate crime investigation

A statue of the Virgin Mary exterior the Cathedral of the Holy Cross within the South Finish was defaced with pink chalk.

A statue of the Virgin Mary exterior the Cathedral of the Holy Cross was defaced with graffiti within the South Finish this week, prompting a Boston metropolis councilor to name for the incident to be investigated as a hate crime.

Councilor Ed Flynn posted a picture of the vandalized statue on social media, evaluating it to comparable incidents in different states and writing that he contacted the Boston Police Division concerning the matter.

The Blessed Mary statue on the Cathedral of the Holy Cross was vandalized final night time with graffiti. The incident is just like different assaults on statues in New York and Florida. I contacted @bostonpolice and really useful the vandalism be investigated as a hate crime.#bospoli pic.twitter.com/sAgD8HTex1

— Ed Flynn 愛德華費連 (@EdforBoston) August 14, 2025

A BPD officer responded to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Washington Road simply earlier than 9 a.m. Thursday, in line with a police report. They had been instructed that the statue was defaced someday between 8 p.m. Wednesday night time and seven a.m. Thursday morning.

The graffiti was made utilizing pink chalk and contained “illegible non secular ramblings,” an officer wrote within the police report.

The report doesn’t listing the incident as a doable hate crime.

In 2020, a Virgin Mary statue at Saint Peter Parish in Dorchester was set on fireplace, prompting an arson investigation. Across the identical time, somebody threw a rubbish can over the statue of the Virgin Mary at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Church in Dorchester.

In 2023, an Attleboro man was arrested for damaging a statue of Jesus Christ on the crucifix exterior the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He allegedly climbed up on the statue, dangling from it and breaking its arms.