Arson and Vandalism In Church In Gödöllő

Case information
Incident date
Country
Hungary
Place
Gödöllő
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Anti-Religion or Humanism Groups
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Arson
  • Desecration
  • Vandalism (all)
  • Vandalism of Church
Religious Freedom / Discrimination
  • Censorship or Removal of Public Christian Symbols
  • Other (text field)
Place of Incident
  • Church
Bias Indicators
  • Lack of Other Motive
  • Significance of Property/Structure/Location to religious community
Reported to Police
  • Yes
Response of Local Authorities
  • Investigated
Symbolic image; not a photograph of the reported incident.Image credit: Andrew Gaines

On the evening of March 15th, unknown perpetrators broke into the Greek Orthodox Church of Gödöllő. The perpetrators then set fire to the pews and sprayed an icon with flammable material. Neighbours noticed the fire and immediately alerted the fire brigade. The parish priest described the vandalism as a clearly anti-Christian act and said that damage the vandals caused is estimated to be around 2.5 million HUF. The police is investigating.

Sources