Nine Statues of the Virgin Mary Attacked in Less than Four Hours in Pyrenees

Country: France

Date of incident: January 9, 2020


On the morning of January 9th, in the space of 45 minutes, five statues of the Virgin Mary, located in three different churches of Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques): Saint-Martin, Saint-Jacques and Notre-Dame, were destroyed. Similar vandalism continued in the churches of the Béarn communes of Lons, Artix, Denguin, and Mourenx, where, each time, a statue of the Virgin was destroyed. A 35-year-old man, described as homeless, was arrested in Mourenx at the end of the day and sent for psychiatric evaluation.

Sources: Sud Ouest, La Croix, and La Rép des Pyrénees 
Photo: Abbé Jean-Jacques Dufau curé de la paroisse du Christ-Sauveur