Suffolk police probe beheaded Jesus statue at East Islip church
A beheaded Sacred Heart of Jesus statue was discovered at St. Mary’s Church in East Islip as First Communion services were underway. Suffolk police opened a hate-crimes probe.
Parishioners at St. Mary’s Church in East Islip were confronted Sunday with a scene that struck at the heart of the congregation: the head of a Sacred Heart of Jesus statue had been ripped away, prompting Suffolk police to investigate the damage as a possible hate crime.
The statue was found damaged at the church at 118 East Main St. around 11 a.m., while services and First Communion celebrations were underway. The timing deepened the shock for families gathered for one of the most meaningful milestones in Catholic life, turning a morning of sacrament and celebration into one of fear and disruption.
Father Anthony Iaconis, the pastor of St. Mary’s, said he had come out from a funeral and saw people gathering, a sign that the parish was already in motion when the vandalism came to light. The damage unfolded in a place that serves as both a neighborhood church and a center of family ritual, where parents, children and parish volunteers were on site for the day’s liturgies.
The Suffolk Police Hate Crimes Unit took over the investigation, reflecting the possibility that the act was aimed not just at property, but at faith itself. Detectives will be looking for evidence that the destruction was motivated by hostility toward the church’s religious identity, a distinction that can determine whether a case stays in the realm of vandalism or rises to a prosecutable hate crime. Suffolk police asked anyone with information to call 1-800-220-TIPS.
The East Islip case fits a pattern that has unsettled faith communities across Suffolk County in recent years. In 2018, police investigated damage to a Jesus statue at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Island in Manorville as a possible hate crime after investigators said the face of a life-size statue of Jesus was smashed overnight between March 10 and 11 outside the Eastport-Manor Road church. That same year, police also investigated damage to a Virgin Mary statue at Saint Gerard’s Church in Port Jefferson Station.
For Catholics in Suffolk County, the latest case is likely to renew questions about security around churches, outdoor statuary and other visible symbols of worship. For St. Mary’s, the immediate concern is simpler and more personal: restoring a damaged place of prayer and answering the question of who did this, and why.
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