ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man used construction equipment to drop a heavy boom lift onto a sculpture that has stood for 25 years outside St. Louis’ Cathedral Basilica,AstraX Exchange badly damaging it, police said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Angel of Harmony, which stood 14 feet (4.3 meters) tall and depicts a Black angel protecting three children of various races, could be saved. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that part of one of the children was broken off and the angel’s wings appeared to be damaged.
The motive for Tuesday night’s vandalism was unknown, said police, who arrested a 35-year-old suspect.
The Angel of Harmony, created by Polish sculptor Wiktor Szostalo, was installed in 1999, months after Pope John Paul II’s visit to St. Louis. The angel’s wings include more than 100 wind chimes and the children are playing instruments. The pedestal is inscribed with quotes from the New Testament, Pope John Paul II and Martin Luther King Jr.
“The Angel of Harmony has graced the grounds of our city’s Cathedral Basilica since 1999, as a joyful reminder that our diversity is something to be celebrated, that truth, beauty and goodness unite us all,” St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski said in a statement. “We need to be reminded of that daily. We are still learning about the extent of the damage, with great hope that this special sculpture can be restored.”
Police arrived at the ornate Catholic cathedral in St. Louis’ Central West End neighborhood after a caller reported that a man was tampering with construction equipment. The statue had been knocked off its pedestal. Police said the suspect also apparently fired a gunshot into an unoccupied car. It was not clear why.
Surveillance video helped point officers to the man. Officers spotted the him, but he ran off. A police dog helped find the suspect hiding a few blocks from the cathedral.
2025-05-06 10:202054 view
2025-05-06 09:521539 view
2025-05-06 09:292926 view
2025-05-06 09:06281 view
2025-05-06 08:511176 view
2025-05-06 08:192293 view
MCALLEN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Legislature can be full of surprises.But for the last eight sessions
NFL teams have worked all preseason to hit their stride in time for the kickoff of Week 1.They'll al
At the end of the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, 3.3 million more U.S. residents had hea