Police say someone broke into the altar at a New York City church, stole a $2 million gold relic, and took the head from a statue of an angel at some point late last week.

The incident happened between 6:30 p.m. on May 26^th and 4 p.m. on May 28^th at St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, known as the “Notre Dame” of Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. The church was closed for construction at the time. The church’s pastor said that camera recordings from the church’s security system were also stolen.

The Diocese of Brooklyn called it “a brazen crime of disrespect and hate.” The diocese said the thief or thieves cut through a metal protective casing and made off with a tabernacle dating to the church’s opening in the 1890s. The tabernacle, a box containing Holy Communion items, was made of 18-carat gold and decorated with jewels, police and the diocese said. It’s valued at $2 million.

The diocese said it is irreplaceable because of its historical and artistic value.

According to a guidebook posted on the church’s website, the tabernacle was built in 1895 and restored in 1952 and 2000. It’s described as a “masterpiece and one of the most expensive tabernacles in the country, guarded by its own security system,” which involves an “electronically operated burglar-proof safe” and one-inch thick steel plates that “completely enclose the tabernacle.

Angel statues flanking the tabernacle were decapitated and destroyed, the diocese said. A safe in the sacristy, where priests prepare for Mass, was also cut open, but nothing was inside. Holy Eucharist, bread consecrated as the body of Christ, was taken from the tabernacle and thrown on the altar.

“This is devastating, as the Tabernacle is the central focus of our church outside of worship, holding the Body of Christ, the Eucharist, which is delivered to the sick and homebound,” Rev. Frank Tumino, the pastor of St. Augustine, said in a statement issued by the diocese.

“To know that a burglar entered the most sacred space of our beautiful Church and took great pains to cut into a security system is a heinous act of disrespect,” Tumino said. We’ll likely never know how the thieves got into the church or if they were aware of what they were stealing. However, it’s sad that not even the church is safe from theft.

The church is an institution where believers come to worship, and the less fortunate come to seek assistance. It’s a place where the community can come together and fellowship with their neighbors. Unfortunately, these thieves looked beyond the church’s meaning to the community and saw it as a target. We should pray that these thieves are found, and the precious relic is returned to its rightful place. We should also pray that the thieves are held responsible for their actions and see the error of their ways. Finally, we should pray for those who do wrong, for they may not know what they’re doing. Ultimately, God has the final say.