A strange-looking crew decked out in goth clothes damaged a crucifix and stained glass window at a Brooklyn Catholic church, authorities said.
At least four people — including one who may be wearing facepaint, according to surveillance images — walked up to St. Columba’s Church in Marine Park around 2:45 a.m. Jan. 27, the NYPD said late Tuesday.
One image shared by cops of the gangly crew shows four people appearing to be teens or young adults with one wearing a black leather jacket, another in a long black coat and a third in camouflage pants.
Bizarre footage released by the church shows the rock-music rejects trying to enter the church through the side door on the quiet, snowy street – and two of them could be seen repeatedly stabbing something on the exterior of the building with what appears to be a knife.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Brooklyn said the footage showed the vandals trying to pull a cross off the church exterior and puncturing its base.
A stained-glass window was smashed, spokesman John Quaglione said.
The young-looking suspects allegedly damaged a stained-glass window and crucifix at St. Columba’s Church. NYPD
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is probing the incident. Saint Columba RC Church
The stained glass window smashed at Brooklyn Catholic Church. Gregory P. Mango“We are a week away from Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season,” Quaglione told The Post in a statement. “It is our hope these individuals will have a conversion of heart during this time of repentance, and seek forgiveness for their sins against this parish.
“The increase in hate crimes incidents against different houses of worship and people of different faiths in New York City is alarming,” he went on. “Any persecution of faith defies our freedom of religion which is at the very foundation of this country. We thank the New York City Police Department for their response and continued investigation.”
The incident is now being looked at as a hate crime, cops said. No arrests had been made by Wednesday.
The disturbing crime comes months after an unhinged man wearing a purple priestly vestment robe and no pants vandalized a shrine to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton inside our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in lower Manhattan, cops and witnesses said at the time.
The church called the crime “a disgraceful act” and “an affront to every parishioner of our faith community.” Gregory P. MangoAlso over the summer, a vandal sprayed black paint – as well as the word “Fake” on a statue of the Virgin Mary outside Resurrection Church in Gerritsen Beach, police said at the time.
In June, a crazed man destroyed a framed photo of Pope Francis at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Astoria — before spreading paint thinner on the basement floor and dressing up in a priest’s robe, the diocese said.
Anyone with information on the latest vandalism is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or on X @NYPDTips.
