A man in California was arrested for allegedly vandalizing a church, reports revealed.
The authorities identified the suspect as 67-year old James Stoltenberg after being taken to the police custody on October 27, following an investigation into the defacing of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church located in Sacramento Valley of a small community of Colusa in California,
Allegedly, Stoltenberg carved obscenities on the altar and reportedly destroyed several historic items, causing over $10,000 worth of damage to the church on October 25.
“Images from the incident show the baptismal font desecrated, the tabernacle thrown, Eucharist strewn across the floor, and obscenities carved onto the altar.” CBS news reported.
According to Deacon Dr. Julian Delgado, many of the items destroyed were historic, priceless pieces.
The police officers with the Colusa Police Department reportedly responded to the church upon receiving reports of the vandalism two days after the incident and with the assistance of Colusa County District Attorney’s office, Stoltenberg was arrested and was booked in the Colusa County Jail.
Following the arrest, District Attorney Matthew R. Beauchamp released a statement during an interview with KOVR and revealed that the vandalism appeared to be targeted toward the Catholic Church.
Beauchamp also added that Stoltenberg claimed that he believed the Catholic religion is a fake religion.
“His comments were made about Catholics and for example, he indicated the Catholic religion is a fake religion. This has outraged the community. Both the Catholic community as well as the greater community.” Beauchamp said.
Moreover, residents of the said community also expressed their outrage over the incident.
“We’ll pray for that individual that he gets the help that they need. We have that faith that God will lead us back to a safe place there.” Rosemary Hicks, who grew up in Our Lady of Lourdes, said and added that upon hearing about the damage, she felt devastated.
“Although it shocked us and rocked us for a little bit, we’ll continue on with our faith. That’s what we have is the faith that will get us through this.” Hicks added.
At the time of writing, the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
