Schenectady church hit by vandalism

A six-foot statue of St. Paul was burned on the Blessed Sacrament altar, and graffiti was sprayed in the rest rooms and ushers' room, according to Rev. George Brucker, pastor. The damage was discovered March 9.

Despite the fact that no one was injured, "we have no other alternative but to close the church," Father Brucker said. "We have been leaving it open because we have motion detectors." He said there hasn't been any vandalism to the church for the past 10 years.

The fire set on the Blessed Sacrament altar damaged a statue of the patron saint of the parish, and "someone had to have held a flame underneath the hand of the statue and turned it to charcoal," Father Brucker said. A wooden box for candle offerings and a poster on a wall also were burned.

The pastor is having a hard time understanding why someone would deliberately set fire to his church. "It's so sad and tragic that someone would try to set the church on fire," he said. "If the statue had ignited, we would have had a major fire. It's difficult to understand and probably a sign of defiance, anger or rebellion."

BY the time parishioners came for Mass last weekend, "most of them knew about [the vandalism], but they were shocked to think that that would happen," Father Brucker said.

Schenectady police are investigating the vandalism but have no leads. The church will remain closed during the day, and parishioners hope that whoever is responsible for this damage is caught, Father Brucker said.

"We'll pray that somehow they'll change. They should be recognized for what they are," he said.

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