Historic Marble St. Joseph Statue Destroyed in Indianapolis Church Vandalism

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Historic Marble St. Joseph Statue Destroyed in Indianapolis Church Vandalism

CV NEWS FEED // Police are investigating vandalism that destroyed a historic marble statue of Saint Joseph and newly-remodeled steps to a Catholic church in downtown Indianapolis last week.

The vandalism occurred early in the morning on November 30 at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

The statue of St. Joseph used to stand at the entrance of the church, and weighed some 800 pounds, according to the Archdiocesan newspaper the Criterion. A photo released by the diocese showed it broken completely in half.

“When they pulled the statue down, you can tell the step went down about an inch from the weight of it. Now, there is a gap and it knocked off a significant piece of limestone that will now have to be replaced. It’s another expense we were not anticipating,” said the former co-chair of St. Mary’s fundraising committee Helen Small to local news outlet WRTV Indianapolis.

St. Mary’s church was originally built in 1910. In 2022, St. Mary’s held a fundraising campaign to rebuild and restore much of the outside of the church.

Small explained that St. Mary “recently spent millions revamping the front of the church where the damage is,” according to WRTV Indianapolis. 

“It was worth getting that done to have it ready for the next century or more but now this. It’s unfortunate,” Small said.

The pastor of St. Mary issued a statement to parishioners after the vandalism occurred:

As many of you are aware, our marble statue of St. Joseph was vandalized last night. We are saddened by the damage done to this priceless image of the foster father of our Lord. St. Mary is proud to be a Catholic presence in the downtown Indianapolis community, and we are grateful for the good relationships we enjoy with many community partners. I invite you to take a moment today to pray the Litany of St. Joseph for the conversion of those who committed this act of vandalism and for peace in our city.

St. Joseph, Protector of the Holy Church, pray for us!

Over 350 church vandalisms have occurred in the United States since 2020, according to CatholicVote’s violence tracker.