Amir Cohen/Reuters
An American citizen was arrested in Jerusalem on Thursday after allegedly entering a church and pulling a statue of Jesus down from its plinth, Israeli police said.
The incident took place inside the Church of the Flagellation, a Christian pilgrimage site on the city’s Via Dolorosa—the road along which Jesus is believed to have carried his cross to his place of crucifixion.
In images shared on social media, the damaged statue can be seen laying on its side after apparently being torn down from its plinth. On the floor next to the statue, a breathless man can be seen restraining the alleged vandal. “You can’t have idols in Jerusalem,” the suspect can be heard saying. “This is the holy city.”