Pope John Paul II statue vandalized with red paint in Edmonton

Edmonton police have launched an investigation into the defacement of a statue of Pope John Paul II outside a Polish church on Sunday.

Red paint was smeared across the base of the statue, obscuring the pontiff's name. Dozens of red hand prints ringed the statue. Teddy bears and other stuffed animals sat at the statue’s base, and red footprints were also seen leading to and from the front doors of the church.

The vandalism comes after the discovery of nearly 1,000 bodies in unmarked graves at two former residential school sites in Canada.

Sunday’s discovery is the latest in a spree of vandalism and acts of crime directed towards Catholic churches in Canada, as more details of the church-run, government-sponsored residential school program come to light.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/7985009/edmonton-church-pope-john-paul-ii-statue-vandalized/

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