Suspect charged in vandalism of St. Thomas Grotto statues

Church members who worked to restore a garden and grotto at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Long Beach are heartbroken over vandalism that heavily damaged the site.

The St. Vincent De Paul Society at St. Thomas raised money and worked to restore the grotto, which was rededicated in May, but Friday morning, a church member discovered the statue of Mary, as well as the guardian angel just outside the grotto in the garden, were knocked over and damaged.

St. Vincent Past President Darlene Berry said, “It has broken our hearts. We’d been working on it and got a lot of donations to help us.”

Long Beach police have made an arrest, but more work lies ahead to repair the damage. Captain Patrick Craig with the Long Beach PD said, “They made contact with the subject and took him into custody. We found through our investigation that he was a transient from Oklahoma moving through the area. And we charged him with felony, malicious mischief, and transported him to Harrison County Jail.”

Anyone wishing to help can donate to the St. Vincent De Paul Society. Just specify it is for the grotto.