Northern Brooklyn

Cops investigate statue theft at Park Slope church as hate crime

February 25, 2019 By Meaghan McGoldrick Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Cops are looking for the man they say tossed a statue belonging to a Park Slope church in the trash last week in an incident that’s being treated as a hate crime.

An unidentified man removed a religious statue from inside of Saint Thomas Aquinas Church at 249 Ninth St. and disposed of it in a nearby trash can, according to authorities. The theft took place at around 11:10 a.m. on Feb. 20.

The suspect was last seen walking out of the church wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and white sneakers.

Anyone with information is urged to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website, tweeting to @NYPDTips or texting 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.

All calls are strictly confidential.

The incident is under investigation by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force.

Update (1:44 p.m.): In a statement issued Monday, the Diocese of Brooklyn noted that this is the second such incident this month at Saint Thomas Aquinas, and that the statue in question is one of Our Lady of Cisne, the patroness of the Loja province of Ecuador.

Father Willy Kingsley Ndi, parish administrator, added that “The Diocese of Brooklyn strongly condemns this incident of religious hatred and is fully cooperating with the New York City Police Department’s investigation. This act of vandalism at St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church in Park Slope has not deterred, but only strengthened, the resolve and faith of the parishioners.”

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