A thorny thief swiped a gold-plated rose that was a part of a 9/11 memorial show at a Midtown Manhattan church, cops stated Thursday.
The rose was a part of a commemorative show on the Church of St. Francis of Assisi on W. thirty first St. close to Seventh Ave. and down the block from Penn Station.
The criminal entered the church round 2:30 p.m. Wednesday earlier than breaking the Eighth Commandment and strolling off with the rose.
Cops launched surveillance footage of the suspect working off clutching the gilded flower in hopes of producing ideas from the general public that will assist them determine and find him.
“My hope and prayer is that he turns himself in and receives the psychiatric care he needs,” stated the Rev. Brian Jordan, the church’s pastor. “He needs professional help.”
The steel flower served because the centerpiece of a 9/11 memorial honoring those that died within the terrorist assault, with the rose rising from items of twisted metal taken from the wreckage of the World Commerce Middle.
The church’s former longtime pastor, the Rev. Mychal Decide, was a Hearth Division chaplain who was crushed by falling rubble at Floor Zero whereas praying for victims and rescuers after the assault.
Jordan stated the suspected thief is understood to church staffers, and had been requested to depart on a number of events, even twice the day of the theft.
“It wasn’t welded in,” Jordan stated of the golden rose. “It was inserted in. You can easily break it free. The lady yelled at him, but he took off anyway. He was carrying it like it was a bag of groceries.”
The pastor referred to as it “an act of desecration.”
He stated the paintings has an estimated worth of about $3,000.
Nevertheless, he stated, “You couldn’t put a price on that. It signifies, amidst all the debris, the suffering of 9/11.”
Jordan stated he hopes the younger man turns himself in.
“I’ll forgive him if he’s sorry,” he stated. “We forgive people all the time. That’s our job. It’s going to require tough love.”
Anybody with info is requested to name Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls can be stored confidential.
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