Statue of Jesus at Canadian church vandalized with AK-47s, Palestine scarf

Earlier this week, the statue of Jesus in front of Saint-Boniface Church in Mauricie, Quebec, was found by local parishioners to have been vandalized, with the police later being called.

The man responsible for it claims that it was a personal project.

Local media reported that artist Grégoire Cusson of the Artiste Super Qualité art collective said that his actions were “for my personal project.”

“I only had to take a photo and not [set up] an installation or create a scandal,” he said in French as translated to English. 

By Thursday morning, the AK-47s, which were mock guns made of wood, were removed by church staff. Chairman of the board of the Fabrique Notre-Dame-de-l’Alliance lamented the attack on Catholics.

“I wouldn’t think it would go any further. Attacking religion these days is full of attacks on the Catholic religion,” he noted in French as translated to English. 

Even the local mayor, Alain Gélinas, said that the artist’s use of the statue of Jesus showed a lack of respect for local citizens.

Online chatter called out the artist for mocking Jesus, with one Facebook user saying, “To the person who put machine guns in Jesus’ hands in front of the church… Seriously, can we calm down a little?”

“Jesus with weapons in his hands, in front of a church… What exactly is the message? Because personally, I find it completely absurd. A little respect wouldn’t hurt.”

Later, police, or the Sûreté du Québec, as it’s known, said that a person came forward claiming to be responsible. As of now, it is not know if any charges will be pressed on the man.

Attacks on Catholic and Christian churches have become commonplace in Canada. One Conservative MP has called out the ruling Liberal Party for refusing to agree that church arsonists should be forced to repay the damage they cause.