A statue of Jesus Christ, located at Serenity Memorial Park in Peoria’s south side has been defaced. Jesus’ hands have been broken off, and there is a hole left where the face had been.
Pierre Serafin, with UFS, tells WMBD’s Greg and Dan, to do that kind of damage, someone would have to work pretty hard. The question is, can it be fixed?
“I’ve talked to a couple of people that thought that they might be able to repair the face. We’d have to order the hands. So, I’m looking into it.”
It took six months for the statue to arrive from Italy, costing about $15,000. It had only been in Serenity Park for six months before it was vandalized. Serafin himself provided a majority of the funding for the statue, which is over 10 feet tall.
“It would be wonderful if this statue would be resurrected and repaired. I’m still looking into all that. If the community would rally behind it, it would truly become a community statue, a community park,” Serafin said.
Serafin says the statue was meant to be a source of peace for the community, specifically for those that have dealt with violence. He says the person that defaced it obviously did not agree with its purpose.
The statue includes a plaque that reads: “Love each other as I have loved you”.
Police have no suspects at this time and there was no security footage.
A GoFundMe has been set up by First District City Council member Denise Moore to help raise funds to replace or repair the statue.