Fire Set Behind Altar; Excrement Left in Confessional

Case information
Incident date
Country
Italy
Place
Torre del Lago
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Arson
  • Vandalism (all)
  • Vandalism of Church
Place of Incident
  • Church
Bias Indicators
  • Comments/Written Statements/Gestures/Graffiti
  • Time/Place/Location
Reported to Police
  • Yes
Response of Local Authorities
  • Investigated
Image credit: Sailko, CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

An intentionally-set fire burned a curtain and part of a chair behind the altar of the church of San Giuseppe in the town of Torre del Lago Puccini on April 12th. Feces was later discovered in the confessional.

Some of the parishioners present in the church before the start of the 6 pm Mass noticed smoke coming from behind the altar. The parish priest, Don Gilberto, quickly extinguished the fire with a bucket of water.

Police launched an investigation but could not rely on public surveillance cameras, as they were all broken due to lack of maintenance.

Sources: La Nazione, Lucca in Diretta and Il Tirreno

Sources