A hate-filled vandal scrawled a shocking profanity and defaced several statues at a Catholic Church in Washington Heights, police said Tuesday.
The destruction was discovered St. Frances Cabrini Shrine on Fort Washington Ave. near W. 190th St. — just outside of Fort Tryon Park — about noon Sunday, cops said.
The vandal wrote a profanity directed at Christ along with several bizarre symbols on a church wall with black spray paint. Another symbol was painted on a statue of St. Frances Cabrini as the vandal covered her face with paint.
No arrests have been made. Members of the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force are investigating.
Cops were reviewing church surveillance cameras to see if they captured a clear image of the vandal.
It was the second time in two weeks that a vandal had attacked a Catholic Church within the five boroughs, police said.
On Sept. 24, a bearded man in a red T-shirt and a white baseball cap jumped over a small white wooden fence outside the rectory of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church on Parsons Blvd. in Jamaica, picked up a large rock from the garden and repeatedly struck a statue of the Virgin Mary in the head with it.
Father Victor M. Bolaños, pastor of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, holds the hands of the statue of the Blessed Mother. (Rebecca White for New York Daily News)
The vandal smashed off the statue’s hands before running off. Church workers recovered the broken hands, which were steepled in prayer, and hope to reaffix them to the statue.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding either act of vandalism to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.