Four charged in vandalism, theft of statues at Alabama church

Published: 2007-07-30

MOBILE, Ala. (CNS) -- After two statues were desecrated and a third was stolen from the grounds of a Catholic church in the Mobile Archdiocese, police arrested two men and two women July 24 and charged them with third-degree theft of property. At St. Vincent de Paul Church in Tillman's Corner, a suburban area just west of Mobile, two life-size statues, one of the parish's patron and one of Our Lady of Grace, were desecrated. A smaller statue of Our Lady of Grace was stolen. The crimes occurred sometime between the afternoon of July 22 and the morning of July 23. "I'm mystified," said the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul, Father Frank Sofie, as he talked with reporters outside the church. "As Catholics we see these statues as much more than church property, but as sacred images of revered saints." In comments to reporters, one of the four charged by police, Chandler Marston, 19, described damaging the statues as a prank. The other three charged were Lisa Moseley, 19, Alex White, 18, and Shawn Killingsworth, 21. All four are from Mobile.

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