The historic St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in Manhattan was vandalized over the weekend, with offensive graffiti and symbols defacing a church wall and a statue of the saint, according to police reports on October 8. The attack was discovered on October 6, and involved a profanity directed at Jesus and “several bizarre symbols” scrawled in black spray paint across the church wall.

The statue of St. Frances Cabrini was painted with another symbol, and her face covered in black paint. St. Frances Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants, was the first United States citizen to be canonized. Immigrating to the U.S. from Italy in 1889, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and dedicated her life to helping suffering immigrants all over the world. St. Frances Cabrini is buried at the shrine.

Julia Attaway, the shrine’s executive director, stated that while no permanent damage was done, she emphasized that it was “an attack on the beliefs of Christians and the Catholic Church,” the report shared.