Malaysia

Police arrest suspected Keningau church vandal

Officials say man damaged two religious statues, caused crucifix to fall

Updated 3 years ago · Published on 07 Jul 2022 5:37PM

Police arrest suspected Keningau church vandal
A statue of Mother Mary that was damaged in the act. – Diocese of Keningau Facebook pic, July 7, 2022

KOTA KINABALU – Keningau police believe that the act of vandalism at a church here this morning was done by a mentally unstable person.

In a media statement today, the district’s police chief Nor Rafidah Kasim said a 34-year-old suspect has been arrested. 

This comes after a police report was lodged by officials of the Keningau St Francis Xavier Cathedral at 10.01am today.

“Our early finding shows that the gates into the church were closed but not locked, and the close circuit system was also not in working condition,” she said here today.

She said church officials claimed in the report that the unidentified suspect had entered the church and damaged two statues, and caused a crucifix to fall.

The incident occurred at about 7.30am this morning, she said. 

The broken statue of Mother Mary lying on the floor of the Keningau Saint Francis Xavier church. It is among several items damaged by the assailant this morning. – Diocese of Keningau Facebook pic, July 7, 2022
The broken statue of Mother Mary lying on the floor of the Keningau Saint Francis Xavier church. It is among several items damaged by the assailant this morning. – Diocese of Keningau Facebook pic, July 7, 2022

The broken items include statues of Christ, Mother Mary and several other items seen lying on the floor of the Keningau Saint Francis Xavier church in the interior district.

The Keningau diocese’s Facebook post appealed to the public not to speculate on the incident.

“An unwanted and shocking incident has happened this morning at the Keningau St Francis Xavier around 7.30am after the morning mass when an unidentified individual entered the church and destroyed the crucifix,” the diocese said in the post. – The Vibes, July 7, 2022

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