A 21-year-old Bronx man has been charged with grand larceny after allegedly stealing a gold-plated rose from a 9/11 memorial in Manhattan's Church of St. Francis of Assisi. Deikel Alcantara is accused of the theft, which police say occurred on Wednesday afternoon when he entered the church and took the rose from the memorial, as reported by ABC7 New York.
Despite making an arrest, the NYPD has yet to recover the gold-plated rose, valued at approximately $3,000. The rose acted to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks and has been part of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi for over two decades. Alcantara, who had been to the church before and required previous escorts off the property due to disruptive behavior, was swiftly apprehended two days following the incident. To suddenly emerge against the backdrop of a serene memorial dedicated to lives lost, the theft of such a symbol jolts the collective memory of tragedy and loss.
The memorial, featuring a metal rose on a base of twisted steel from the World Trade Center, is deeply meaningful to the church community. It honors those lost, including Father Mychal Judge, the church's former pastor, and parishioner Carole LaPlante, who both died in the attacks. "We’re grieved and saddened by this act of desecration,” said Father Brian Jordan, the church's current pastor, in a statement to NBC New York.
