Cops: Damaged Virgin Mary statue at church probed as hate crime

A statue damaged at a church in Port Jefferson Station is being investigated as a hate crime, Suffolk County police said Monday.

The statue of the Virgin Mary at the Church of Saint Gerard Majella on Terryville Road was damaged sometime between Friday and Sunday, police said.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest, police said.

The department’s hate crime unit also is investigating similar damage that happened the previous weekend.

Vandals smashed the face of the life-size statue of Jesus outside the Shrine of Our Lady of the Island in Manorville on March 10, only weeks before thousands of Long Islanders are expected to walk the Stations of the Cross there to commemorate Good Friday, March 30.

A police spokesman on Monday morning could not say whether the incidents were connected.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers also is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in that case.

Anyone with information on either case is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 800-220-8477.