October 10, 2013
InsideOttawaValley.com reports that the pioneer church, St. Gabriel’s Parish in Springtown, Ontario suffered great damages when broken into.
The church, which had been deconsecrated in 1952 was beyond recognizable when the damages had been revealed.
A long list of troubling wreckage could be noted: broken stained glass windows, a smashed antique bottle, litter and cigarette butts found on the floor, kneelers had been strewn about taken from their original places, contents of cupboards thrown around the room, the sacristy had broken glass as well, someone had graffitied the wall above the altar-meaning that the individual responsible for this would have had to stand on the altar, bases of statues had been torn off, and the rug that had been in place 1909 had been moved over.
The state of the church had already been assessed and a group of volunteers assigned themselves to the maintenance and repair of the church in 2010. The interior of the church is decorated in embossed tin, meaning that rusting has started. The group hoped to prevent further damage.
Now, after the immense amount of damages left by the perpetrators, the group has an even larger number of things to set right. This church is a unique church- artists who had created individual pieces and architects who came to assess this church stated that their is not another church like this one in the province.
Certain items, like statues and the Stations of the Cross had been moved for safety due to previous vandalism.
The OPP is working on the investigation currently.