A war memorial statue depicting Jesus Christ has been vandalised at a Catholic church, with police investigating the incident as a hate crime.
Cheshire Police said the statue was damaged and daubed with graffiti on Friday at St Alban’s Church in Bewsey, Warrington.
In a video released on the church’s Facebook page, Canon Christopher Cunningham said the head of the figure had been “knocked off” in an incident of “true persecution”. He said “offensive language against the Catholic Church” had been left on the statue’s plaque.
The offensive language has since been removed by a church volunteer.
St Alban’s Church declined to comment when contacted by the .
The damage was discovered at 09:23 GMT on Sunday by a member of the congregation, police said.