Yesterday afternoon, a man stepped into the Church of St. Francis of Assisi and committed an act that echoes with a deep lack of reverence for a communal wound. At approximately 2:30 p.m., this individual is alleged to have removed a gold-plated metal rose from the church's 9/11 memorial, as ABC7 New York reported. This piece, more than a mere ornament, stood as a testament to the lives tragically halted on that September day, among them, Friar Mychal Judge.
Judge, a chaplain for the FDNY and a Catholic priest associated with the very church from which the rose was taken, was listed as the first certified fatality of the solemn day's events—inclusion amongst the 2,977 victims held in remembrance there, yet the thief proceeded, perhaps unaware of the depth of the desecration, police said security footage showed the suspect holding the stolen property as he fled, evidence of his disregard for the sanctum he had just entered and the sanctity he had disturbed.
In response to this act, the New York Police Department has actively begun a search for the suspect, urging anyone with information to reach out to the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline. The memorial, engraved with the losses of 9/11, contains not only the now-missing rose but also three pieces of steel recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center—a poignant emblem of resilience and remembrance, according to 1010 WINS.
