In the Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Church in Strasbourg, the statue of the Virgin was vandalised on the 8th of January. The statue of the Virgin was found destroyed on the ground with its face damaged. A complaint was filed with the police. The parish priest of the church received the news and commented: "It was a parishioner who alerted me. He found the statue of the Virgin demolished, next to its base. He immediately called. I think it was intentional: the way it was positioned, I don't see how the statue could have fallen down by itself. Father Uberall has already announced his intention to file a complaint."
The churchman, Etienne Uberall, had noticed that for some time it had also been in the sights of some vandals: "A few months ago, it had already been vandalised, someone had drawn a swastika on it and had put a Hitler moustache on it. These events were not made public at the time, but were accompanied by a strange discovery under one of the church pews: Shortly after these events, a letter was found from someone who attributed all his misfortunes to the Virgin Mary."
"Things happen to us all the time," smiles étienne Uberall, almost resigned. We are victims of candle thefts, and we even have a trunk robber who uses double-sided tape to grab a few coins. For the parish priest, this is a heartbreaker: "Rather than stealing, just ask. If people really need a candle to light their way, we'll always find a way to give them one...".