INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD is looking for the vandals who damaged a historic church downtown Indianapolis.
“What a shame,” Helen Small said.
A statue of Saint Joseph used to stand at the entrance of St. Mary Catholic Church on New Jersey Street.
“Unnecessary destruction of property,” Small said. “There is a statue of St. Mary on the other side so they kind of balance each other out.”
A metro police report shows vandals destroyed the statue that weighed several hundred pounds, along with newly remodeled stairs early Thursday morning.
"I don't know what the motivation is for people to create problems like this. I just don't understand it," Small said.
Small is also the former co-chair of St. Mary's fundraising committee. She says the church recently spent millions revamping the front of the church where the damage is.
“It was worth getting that done to have it ready for the next century or more but now this. It’s unfortunate,” Small said.
Small says the church counsel hasn’t had a chance to look at replacement options yet.
“When they pulled the statue down, you can tell the step went down about an inch from the weight of it. Now, there is a gap and it knocked off a significant piece of limestone that will now have to be replaced. It’s another expense we were not anticipating,” Small said.
She says the church still needs millions to finish other repairs.
"It'll cost upwards of near $2 million probably to finish it," Small said.
The Saint Joseph statue has been part of St. Mary Catholic church’s history for decades.
The church is still working to figure out how much the damage will cost.
Anyone with information on the vandalism should contact IMPD.
