two-metre-high wooden cross cut down

Case information
Incident date
Country
France
Place
Corancy
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Theft
  • Vandalism (all)
Place of Incident
  • Public Christian Symbol (outside place of worship)
Bias Indicators
  • Lack of Other Motive
  • Pattern or Frequency of Attacks
  • Significance of Property/Structure/Location to religious community
  • Time/Place/Location
Reported to Police
  • Yes
Response of Local Authorities
  • Investigated
Image credit: le Journal de Centre

In Curancy, Burgundy, on the night of 30 April, a two-metre-high wooden Christian cross was deliberately cut down and stolen from the woods. The vandals used a saw to cut it down and made off with it. Shocked by the incident, the mayor filed a police report, describing the act as 'a direct attack on a symbol of faith'.

According to the elected official, 'This cross represented the heart of the Christianisation of the area.' Everyone loves the Faubouloin chapel. It's at the centre of the town. This cross had great emotional significance."

In April, a statue of the Virgin Mary was also damaged in Mhere (OIDAC reported).

Sources