A man entered the Church of St. Francis of Assisi yesterday afternoon and did something that reverberates with a profound disregard for a wound that affects the entire community. According to ABC7 New York, this person is accused of removing a gold-plated metal rose from the church’s 9/11 memorial at around 2:30 p.m. More than just an ornament, this piece served as a memorial to the lives who were sadly cut short on that September day, including Friar Mychal Judge.
Police said security footage showed the suspect holding the stolen property as he fled, evidence of his disregard for the sanctum he had just entered and the sanctity he had disturbed. Judge, a Catholic priest connected to the very church from which the rose was taken and an FDNY chaplain, was listed as the first certified fatality of the solemn day’s events, included among the 2,977 victims held in remembrance there.
The New York Police Department has launched an aggressive search for the suspect in reaction to this conduct and is asking anyone with information to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline. According to 1010 WINS, the memorial, which is inscribed with the 9/11 tragedies, includes three pieces of steel that were found in the wreckage of the World Trade Center as well as the now-missing rose. These pieces are a moving symbol of resiliency and remembering.
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