3 juvenile boys will be summoned to juvenile court in connection with the vandalism.
The vandalized marble statue of a child at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Ludlow.LUDLOW – Offers of help were pouring in Tuesday from painters and experts at restoring marble following the Holy Week vandalism to the Our Lady of Fatima shrine outside Our Lady of Fatima Church.
Both a spokesman for the church and Police Sgt. Louis Tulik, who investigated the crime, said they received many calls Tuesday from people inside and outside the community who want to help.
Three juveniles, two 14-year-old males and a 15-year-old male, all from Ludlow, will be summoned to juvenile court on charges of vandalism over $250, Tulik said.
Tulik said he is leaving the issue of whether a hate crime was being committed against members of a particular religion or ethnic group to the Hampden District Attorney’s office.
“I am leaning against that interpretation,” said Tulik. He said the District Attorney’s office will receive a copy of his report on Wednesday.
The three boys also will be charged with vandalizing a St. Anthony statue on the grounds of the church and one of the outdoor Stations of the Cross and with spray painting the doors of the nearby Lusitano Stadium.
A fourth juvenile also will be charged in connection with vandalizing Lusitano Stadium, Tulik said.
Linda Augusto, secretary for Our Lady of Fatima Church, said the church is getting an estimate of damages from its insurer. The church is extremely pleased with the work of the Ludlow Police Department in solving the crime, she said.
Tulik, the lead investigator in the case, said no religious symbols were painted on the shrine. Whether the juveniles are charged with a hate crime depends on how broadly the statute is interpreted he said. “I’m going to leave that to the DA,” Tulik said. He said the families of those charged are cooperating with the investigation.
Tulik has a strong personal connection to the shrine. The shrine was erected by his late grandmother, Jessie Oliveira, nearly 60 years ago when her husband was suffering from stomach cancer. Tulik said his grandmother made a promise that if her husband survived, she would erect and care for a shrine to the miracle of Fatima that gives the church its name.
Louis Oliveira overcame his cancer and died in 1997 at the age of 93.
Tulik said he does not consider himself an extremely religious person, but he knows how important the shrine was to his grandmother, who died last October at the age of 100, and to the Portuguese community.
People travel from throughout the area to visit the shrine, he said. He said on Tuesday he saw a woman in a wheelchair visiting the shrine from outside the area who had not heard about the vandalism. “She had tears in her eyes when she saw the vandalism,” he said.
The tile and the bench at the Saint Antonio statue, which also was spray painted, was imported from Portugal, Tulik said.
Tulik said he has been buoyed by the larger community’s response to reports of the Holy Week vandalism.
As of Tuesday morning, Tulik said he has heard from at least four contractors seeking to aid the church in removing the paint from the vandalized areas.
Tile outside the Saint Antonio statue at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Ludlow was spray painted by vandals during Holy Week.The Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, which has equipment to remove such kinds of graffiti, has also called to see if it can help the church, Tulik said.
“It’s just fantastic how people step up,” Tulik said.
Tulik said the break in the criminal investigation occurred Saturday when he visited Rocky’s Ace Hardware and discovered that three cans of spray paint in gold, fluorescent blue and fluorescent green had been sold together on April 18, the day the vandalism occurred.
Tulik said one of the suspects’ parents had purchased the spray paint with the idea that they would be spray-painting their bicycles.
The parents, Tulik said, have cooperated with the investigation. Tulik said that vulgar words, obscene depictions and a reference to the rap band “Hollywood Undead,” were sprayed on shrine statues, the Stations of the Cross and other areas of church property. In addition, a statue of a boy, part of the shrine, had its fingers broken off.
Those fingers have yet to be found, Tulik said.
Tulik said his grandmother personally cared for the shrine until she was nearly 90. He said he remembers helping with its care as a young boy.
