MIAMI (AP) — Someone beheaded a statue of Jesus Christ in the courtyard of a South Florida church, an act of vandalism now being investigated by the Miami-Dade police and the Department of Homeland Security.

The statue was destroyed between Tuesday night and Wednesday in the courtyard of the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in West Kendall.

“This is an attack on the church,” Mary Ross Agosta, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Miami, told the Miami Herald. “This is not only private property, it is sacred property.”

The statue's head was found on the ground just before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, she said.

“This is not something you can trip over and say, ‘Oh, sorry,’ ” she said. “Someone did this intentionally.”

She said surveillance video has been handed over to police.

“People find peace at these types of places, especially during these times,” police spokesman Argemis Colome told the newspaper. “We want to ensure the community that MDPD will look into the matter so people can continue to feel safe.”

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