Vandalism and Theft of Sacred Historical Objects

Case information
Incident date
Country
Italy
Place
Martirano
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Theft
  • Vandalism (all)
  • Vandalism of Church
Place of Incident
  • Church
Bias Indicators
  • Comments/Written Statements/Gestures/Graffiti
  • Pattern or Frequency of Attacks
  • 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: Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash

Between end of April and the beginning of May, unknown perpetrators entered the small Church of San Francesco d'Assisi in Martirano. They ripped off two sacred objects from the walls and escaped. The sacred objects were of green stone and carved by an unknown sculptor. They weigh around 30 to 40 kilograms each, and dated back to the period between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The carabinieri started investigating the crime. The perpetrators may have placed the stolen objects on the black market. To date, in the area of Martirano, this is the first theft against a sacred building.

Sources