55-Year-Old Virgin Loses Head

For the second time in seven years Saint Monica Catholic Church has had its Virgin Mary statue vandalized. A priest discovered the headless Mary, which has stood at 725 California Ave., Santa Monica, for 55 years, shortly before Easter Sunday services were to begin. Its head was located on the ground nearby. In 2002 unknown suspects removed the marble statue's hands and feet, and, in recent years there have also been acts of vandalism directed against Virgin of Guadalupe murals that are found on the sides of small markets in South and East L.A. Santa Monica police are treating the act as a hate crime. Saint Monica's is a church where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is known to attend Mass.