Mass at the Carmel Mission in California. Photo from Facebook

A statue of Junipero Serra was vandalized just days after the canonization ceremony for the founder of the Indian mission system in California.

The Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation opposed sainthood for Serra. But Chairwoman Louise J. Miranda Ramirez decried the incident, which occurred after sometime on Sunday at the Carmel Mission.

“I’ve been getting calls asking if we had anything to do with it,” Ramirez told The Monterey Herald. “All the accusations are making me angry because we didn’t do it.”

According to news reports, the statue of Serra was toppled and doused with paint. Someone wrote "saint of genocide" on a nearby stone. Both have since been cleaned up.

The Indian cemetery inside the mission also was vandalized. At least one headstone was splattered with paint and someone wrote "greed" on a wooden cross.

Get the Story:
Local tribes decry Carmel Mission vandalism (The Monterey Herald 9/29)
Attack on Statue of New Saint, Junípero Serra, Digs Up Old Conflicts (The New York Times 9/29)
St. Junipero Serra statue vandalized, graffiti calls him ‘saint of genocide’ (Reuters 9/29)
Serra canonization: Mission vandalism mars sainthood celebration (The Monterey Herald 9/28)
Junípero Serra statue defaced days after canonization by Pope Francis (The Washington Post 9/28)

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