A Jesus Christ statue outside a Miami Shores church is left headless and without hands.
The attack happened late last night at St. Martha Catholic Church.
The Archdiocese of Miami's Mary Ross Agosta says, "It's horrible. A statue of Jesus, the presence of Jesus in a church is very important and extremely a statue very symbolic of our faith and our beliefs."
But it's not the first time officials with St. Martha's have had to report to police the destruction of a symbol of their faith.
"Just about a month ago, the actual statue of St. Martha, which stands outside the entrance to the Catholic Church, was smashed and the hand was knocked off," says Agosta.
The first attack was caught on camera.
"It's becoming apparent that St. Martha's and the symbolic and the holy statutes are being defaced, and this should be considered a hate crime at this point," stresses Agosta.
Agosta says there have been no problems at the parish in the past to lead them to a suspect or suspects.
In July, the head was knocked off of a Jesus statue at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Southwest Miami-Dade.
(Photo: Joanne Rodriguez)