Police are looking for a thief who stole a gold rose commemorating the events of September 11 from a Catholic church in New York | National Catholic Register

For years, the monument was erected in honor of Father Mychal Judge, former pastor at the parish of St. Francis, who served as chaplain of the New York Fire Department.

Police are looking for a thief who entered a Catholic church in Manhattan this week and stole a gold rose commemorating a priest who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The police said in their statement that on Wednesday afternoon to the church of St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street, a person entered and “without permission or authority removed a gold-plated metal rose from inside the 9/11 memorial.”

The suspect was identified on Friday as 21-year-old Deikel Alcantara. The incident was treated as an act of grand theft. In New York State, grand larceny includes the theft of property worth $1,000 or more.

The police said in their announcement that on November 20, 2024, a person entered the church of St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street and “removed a gold-plated metal rose from the 9/11 memorial without permission or authority.” So.” On Friday, the suspect was identified as 21-year-old Deikel Alcantara. Source: Courtesy of NYPD

Father Brian Jordan, pastor of the church, he said New York Daily News on Thursday that Alcantara was “known to church staff and was asked to leave the church several times,” the newspaper reported.

For years, the monument was erected in honor of Father Mychal Judge, former pastor at the parish of St. Francis, who served as chaplain of the New York Fire Department. Judge’s father was struck and killed by debris during the collapse of the World Trade Center’s south tower on September 11, 2001.

The priest rushed to the scene after the first plane hit. Then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani reportedly asked him to pray for the victims who initially died in the attack; The judge did so, also at the command post in the North Tower.

Although he was not the first victim of the crisis, Father Judge was designated “Victim 0001” of the mass murder that day, becoming the first certified victim of a terrorist attack. Giuliani said he “refused to run to safety” before the South Tower collapsed. last year’s memorial tribute.

The monument is also dedicated to Carole LaPlante, a secular Franciscan nun and former parishioner who died in the attack.

The small monument inside the church consists of parts of twisted steel beams pulled from the wreckage of the World Trade Center after its collapse and a golden rose.

A plaque on the memorial said the rose “transcends the senseless brutality” of the attacks, “giving an enduring promise of hope.”