Cross in Lubartów Defaced

Case information
Incident date
Country
Poland
Place
Lubartów
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Vandalism (all)
  • Vandalism of Public Christian Symbol
Place of Incident
  • Public Christian Symbol (outside place of worship)
Bias Indicators
  • Comments/Written Statements/Gestures/Graffiti
  • Significance of Property/Structure/Location to religious community
  • Victim/Witness Perception
Reported to Police
  • Unknown
Response of Local Authorities
  • Unknown
Image credit: wspolnota lubartowska

On 8th June, a cross on a street in Lubartów with the figure of Jesus was found spray-painted with swastikas. The face of the statue was also smeared with white paint. On a bench nearby, graffiti containing "Slava Ukraine JP" was spray-painted.

To quote Łukasz Żmuda, councilor of the Lubartów commune: "The owner of the chapel is willing to offer a reward for identifying the perpetrator, and as a councilor I will also chip in. People come here to pray and relax. On Saturday around 4 pm. I was driving by and noticed that the chapel was anointed. Someone came with a spray specifically to destroy the shrine. I wouldn't blame the Ukrainians, there's too much of everything, it may be a provocation. The inscription is in our alphabet, not Cyrillic."

Sources