Figure of Christ beheaded on church war memorial days before Remembrance Sunday

A 42-year-old man has been detained under the Mental Health Act after the figure of Christ on a war memorial at St Alban’s Catholic Church in Warrington was beheaded and the memorial daubed with graffiti, days before Remembrance Sunday.

Cheshire Police, who are treating the damage as a hate crime, believe it was done between 6pm and 10pm on Friday 30 October. A member of the congregation found it on Sunday morning, Warrington Worldwide reported.

Chief Inspector Joseph McNally said police understood “the concern this incident has caused within the community” and hoped residents would be reassured that someone had been identified quickly, ITV News reported. Police have not said whether anyone will be charged.

‘True persecution’

The parish priest, Canon Christopher Cunningham, said in a video on the church’s Facebook page that the head had been “knocked off” in an act of “true persecution”, and that “offensive language against the Catholic Church” had been left on the memorial’s plaque. At Sunday Mass he urged parishioners to “stick together”.

Parishioners have cleaned off most of the graffiti before Remembrance Sunday.

The memorial, in the church grounds on Bewsey Street, honours members of the parish who served in the First and Second World Wars. St Alban’s, founded in 1772, is Warrington’s oldest Catholic parish and a Grade II listed building.