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Religious statues vandalized at Yarmouth memorial business

YARMOUTH - Employees at the Yarmouth branch of Heritage Memorials Ltd. on Parade Street are shaking their heads at a senseless act of vandalism.

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A forlorn sight: heads were removed from statues of Mary and Jesus during an act of vandalism at Heritage Memorials Ltd. on Parade Street.

Adult-sized concrete statues of Jesus and Mary were pushed off their display slabs in front of the building. The heads of both are gone.

Jennifer Nelson, a sales consultant with the business, thinks the heads cracked off from the force of the impact when the statues toppled.  Each statue weighed hundreds of pounds.

Nelson’s husband and brother-in-law noticed the damage as they were driving by on Sunday morning (Feb.5). The statues were okay the day before.

“Maybe whoever did it thought it was funny and wrecked them for something to do,” said Nelson.

“I just find it disappointing in the community that you can’t have something without it being ruined, wrote on, or broken. It’s just a shame. I don’t find it’s a very good show of respect,” she said.

Together, the statues retailed for about $20,000. Nothing else was damaged or taken from the business, which had the two statues on display since September. The business opened at that location last May.

Nelson said they had received comments from passersby on how much they liked the statues.

The crime was reported to Yarmouth town RCMP. Staff Sergeant Michel Lacroix says several young people were arrested recently, and although the police don’t have anything to connect them to this crime (statue vandalism) it’s “the kind of stuff they were doing.”

“Since we picked them up, not a lot of that (vandalism) has been happening,” he said.

He encourages anyone who might have seen or heard about this incident to call the Yarmouth Town detachment at 902-742-8777 or to contact Crime Stoppers.

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Call 902-742-8777 or Crime Stoppers toll free at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), text TIP202 + your message to ‘CRIMES’ (274637) or by Secure Web Tips.

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