Buffalo Police investigating damage at St. Margaret Church

BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) — Buffalo Police are investigating an incident in which several statues and large garden pots were damaged at a local church last week.

Sometime between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. Thursday, according to city officials, someone knocked over the statues and pots outside St. Margaret’s Catholic Church on Hertel Avenue.

James Russell, chairman of NYS Ancient Order of Hibernians Catholic Action, claimed the statues were also decapitated and later beheaded with a sledgehammer.

“Yet our churches have been desecrated again,” Russell said in a press release. “Why is this incident not considered a hate crime?”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the D District BPD detectives at (716) 851-5857.

This is an evolving news story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.