Basilica’s damaged Our Lady of Fatima statue replaced after vandal smashed face, hands

WASHINGTON - A new statue of Our Lady of Fatima was dedicated over the weekend on the grounds of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception after the original was vandalized beyond repair last year.

The new statue was dedicated Sunday by Cardinal Wilton Gregory.

In December of last year a man climbed onto the statue's base and struck the statue's face and hands with a hammer. He then picked up a pieces of the chipped stone before fleeing.

"Though we are deeply pained by this incident, we pray for the perpetrator through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title of Our Lady of Fatima," Basilica Monsignor Walter Rossi said in a statement shortly after the damage was discovered.

The incident is still under investigation.