A statue of the Virgin Mary was taken from its platform, decapitated and thrown on the ground in front of a Knights of Columbus building.

Long Island police say the “Statue of the Blessed Mother” was vandalized sometime between Tuesday lunchtime and Wednesday morning.

“Someone’s got to have hate in their heart,” Knights of Columbus Grand Knight Austin Cannon told CBS New York.  “Members equate this to maybe a person of the Jewish faith coming out and finding a swastika on the side of a building. The Blessed Mother is an integral part of our faith, and to find her statue pushed over really upset our members.”

The statue that was destroyed was a replacement for one that was damaged last July by vandals.  Police say that three separate Knights of Columbus locations have had statues vandalized in the last year.

The attacks have done nothing to discourage the Knights.

“You can break it as many times as you want,” added Knights of Columbus Deputy Grand Knight James Ruescher. “But at the end of the day it’ll always be bigger and better.”