Panaji: A case of church vandalism has been reported from Goa, western India.

Miscreants vandalized a Marian statue in a village parish by breaking the glass casket which was installed on a pedestal near a large cross. The incident came to light on Sunday after a local resident saw the statue damaged with glass pieces strewn all round the cross.

It is believed that desecration rook place Saturday night.

Navelim villagers woke up on Monday to hear the news of the desecration of the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes meters away from the district library, the Herald, a local newspaper, The Hindu reported.

Glorio Fernandes, who had installed the statue around a year and half ago, took the pieces of the statue home Monday evening and later informed the local residents about the incident.

Our Lady of Rosary Parish Priest Fr Jose Roque Gonsalves and his two priests, Fr Camilo and Fr Jovito, visited the spot around noon and expressed shock over the desecration.

“What has happened is sad. This is certainly not done by a drunkard or a lunatic, who too has respect for places of worship. We do not want to point any accusing fingers, but at the same time, the police should try to bring the culprits to book”, Fr Gonsalves said.

He said that Navelim has not witnessed any such incident in the past as people from all communities live in perfect harmony. “We can see that people used to lit candidates at the cross,” the priest added.

Margao police inspector Sudesh Naik and his team arrived on the spot to conduct a probe.

Navelim is a village in Salcete, south Goa. It is located near the city of Margão, south of the capital Panjim.

Navelim’s church was first built by the Jesuits in the 1590s. The present, Portuguese-style whitewashed structure was constructed later on when the older building became too small. The reconstruction was apparently financed by a local merchant one “Barreto” who was saved from bankruptcy through the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary.

According to legend, this church was built in mud similar to the other churches in Salcete between 1594 and 1598. The builders were Jesuits and it was financed by the villagers. The first parish priest of Navelim Church was a French Jesuit Fr. John Sena.

As time passed, the church became small for the growing population. Later on, it was reconstructed with laterite stones on a larger scale by a rich Goan merchant, whose name is not given.

This merchant, according to legend, while passing through the main road running in front of the above church, received the message that he would lose a substantial amount of money in his business. As soon as he received this message, he entered the church and started praying to Our Lady of Rosary, requesting her to relieve him from this catastrophe.

If his prayers were answered, he promised to reconstruct the original church, on a larger scale. In the event he not only recovered what he had lost, but realised double the amount. He then financed the entire reconstruction of the church and also renewed the statue of our Lady of Rosary. Information on further reconstruction of Navelim church, if any, are not known.