In mid-April, a Tajikstani migrant cut off the head of a historic figurine of the Virgin Mary located in a chapel behind the church on Czerniakowska Street in Warsaw.
The suspect removed the figurine from its pedestal and chopped off its head in an intentional act of vandalism. The value of the incurred losses was estimated at around 2,000 złoty (€435).
Officers from the Warsaw Mokotów police station identified a 38-year-old Tajikistani national as their prime suspect, according to news portal Imokotow.pl.
The material collected by the police allowed the prosecutor to charge the man with publicly insulting and damaging an object of religious worship, thereby offending the religious feelings of others.
During questioning, the 38-year-old admitted to destroying the figurine, but claimed that he simply hit it without anticipating it would take the statue’s head off.
The prosecutor’s office of the Warsaw borough of Mokotów applied a preventive measure against the man in the form of police surveillance. He faces up to five years in prison.
Migrant attacks against Christian religious symbols and even entire churches have been commonplace in recent years across Western Europe. However, Poland, with its low migrant intake, has mostly seen attacks on church properties perpetuated by left-wing activists and anti-Christian elements in Polish society.
