On the night of 27-28 July, vandals severely damaged a statue of Mary located at the entrance to the village of Kościuk. The statue's hands were cut off, a hole was punched in its head, its eyes were gouged out and its face destroyed. This was not the first act of vandalism against a religious object in the region.
The local community is outraged and shocked. “I held back tears when I saw it,“ a local said. One of the parish priests of Chorszcz added: “It was an organised attack during the night. They came by car and destroyed the statue. This is not only an act of vandalism, but an act of desecration.“
The Metropolitan Curia of the Białystok diocese said: “Any act of desecration is an expression of disrespect for believers...and opposes the principle of religious freedom.“ In another village, Izbiszcze, also in the municipality of Choroszcz, vandals already destroyed two crosses in June (OIDAC reported).