Gold Crown Stolen from Center City Church

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) – – St. John The Evangelist, Roman Catholic Church, says a crown, worth tens of thousands of dollars was stolen from the head of the statue of Mary, inside the church.

The church says not only is the crown worth tens of thousands of dollars, but it was a labor of love, made by parishioners back in 1899 after the church had a massive fire but the statue remained. The crown is made of gold and gems donated by the parishioners at the time, according to the church.

St. John The Evangelist, Roman Catholic Church shared surveillance video of the incident with Action News. The video shows a man scaling the fence and then smashing through a stained glass window built-in 1899. Philadelphia Police say it happened just after 1 a.m., on the unit block of South 13th street in Center City.

“That person knew exactly what he was doing,” said Father John McCloskey, Assistant Pastor, St. John The Evangelist, Roman Catholic Church. The church says the man was in and out of the church in 10 minutes.

“It makes me feel sad, very sad,” said McCloskey. There have been no arrests at this time. The Philadelphia Police Department is urging anyone with information regarding this incident to contact Central Detectives as the investigation continues.