War memorial vandalised ahead of Remembrance Sunday

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 2 Nov, 18:50 · Archive

A war memorial at St Alban's Catholic Church in Warrington has been vandalised with the head of a Jesus statue smashed from the crucifix and anti-Catholic graffiti sprayed across the monument. Police are investigating the damage as a hate crime, occurring just days before Remembrance Sunday.

The memorial bears the names of local parishioners who gave their lives during both World Wars. Cheshire Police believe the vandalism occurred between 6pm and 10pm on Friday 30 October. A congregant discovered the damage at 9.23am on Sunday morning. Officers noted several other incidents in the surrounding Bewsey Street area during the same period.

Parish priest Canon Christopher Cunningham described the attack as an act of 'true persecution' and said 'offensive language against the Catholic Church' had been daubed on the statue. A church volunteer has since cleaned the offensive language from the memorial's plaque.

Cheshire Police has released CCTV footage of an individual they wish to speak to. Detectives are conducting forensic analysis at the scene. Residents and motorists are being urged to provide doorbell camera, dashcam or mobile phone footage that might help identify those involved.

How it is being reported

• Jesus statue smashed and anti-Catholic graffiti sprayed on war memorial ahead of Remembrance SundayA war memorial has been targeted in what Police are investigating as a hate crime, just days ahead of Remembrance Sunday. The head of a statue depicting Jesus Christ was smashed from the crucifix, and anti-Catholic graffiti was spray-painted across the monument at St Alban's Catholic Church in Warrington. The offensive words scrawled on the memorial's plaque read "no cross s**t y". In a video posted to the church's Facebook page, parish priest Canon Christopher Cunningham described the attack as an act of "true persecution" and said "offensive language against the Catholic Church" had been…GB News · 2 Nov, 18:31
• War memorial vandalised and Christ's head smashed off crucifix in 'hate crime'A war memorial's crucifix was left brutalised before Remembrance Sunday, but the silence afterwards felt like someone wanted the whole town to flinch.Daily Express · 2 Nov, 15:34

In this story: St Alban's Catholic Church · Warrington · Canon Christopher Cunningham · Cheshire Police

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log