this justice Departmental The Civil Rights Division announced Monday that it is investigating after a Catholic school in Long Beach, Calif., was broken into and vandalized.

“@CivilRights will investigate this horrific crime,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said on X.

Auditoriums, chapels and classrooms at Holy Innocents Catholic School were broken into and desecrated, school officials said.

The statue was smashedImages of the destruction showed images of Mary and other religious figures destroyed and a picture of the pope knocked to the floor.

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Halls, chapels and classrooms at Holy Innocents Catholic School were broken into and desecrated. (KTV)

According to Fox 11, the vandalism also included defecating on campus and leaving partially consumed food and drinks so authorities could conduct DNA testing while searching for the suspect.

local police The FBI and FBI have been contacted regarding this incident.

Investigators said the church suffered an estimated $100,000 in damage as a result of the break-in, Fox 11 reported.

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Investigators said the church suffered an estimated $100,000 in damage from the break-in. (KTV)

“Statues were smashed. Images of Our Lady were destroyed. The sanctuary was thrown to the ground. This is one of the worst acts of vandalism the local bishop has ever seen. Hatred of Christ only destroys hearts. Pray for this school,” Lila Rose, president of the anti-abortion group Live Action, wrote on X.

Church members said they were heartbroken after learning of the desecration.

“There were crosses there. There were statues of Our Lady there. The sanctuary itself was taken and thrown on the floor, and the sanctuary was there. To me, that’s more painful than anything else. It’s not just the physical stuff. It’s the core behind the thing,” he told Fox 11. “The evil is there, so we need to pray.”

Church members said they were heartbroken after learning of the desecration. (KTV)

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As of Tuesday morning, a GoFundMe launched to support the school had raised nearly $60,000.

“It appears that multiple perpetrators smashed the image of Our Lady and other statues and damaged the Corpus Christi Sanctuary…Bishop Mark Trudeau said this was the worst act of vandalism he had ever seen in the area,” the fundraiser reads.