Nice: An armed man vandalises the Sacré-Cœur church, statues are destroyed and a woman is threatened with a knife. The arrested man, who is said to be a tourist, is also alleged to have thrown stones at another church in the city

A man was arrested on Friday afternoon, September 6, for vandalising the Sacré-Cœur church in Nice. He had broken several statues and threatened a woman with a knife.

The Sacré-Cœur church in the Rue de France in Nice is in a state of shock. Several statues were vandalised by a person shortly before 3pm on Friday September 6. The threatening-looking man had a knife in his possession (…).

One of the surveillance cameras shows the suspect entering the church at around 2.40 pm. He is carrying a rucksack and wearing shorts, which suggests that he is a tourist.

‘A man came in, he was large. He threw his knife towards a woman and she tried to dodge the knife. He was furious and started vandalising the statues. Then he went down into the crypt and people were praying. Then, as he was leaving, he broke another picture of the Virgin Mary,’ reported Father Jean-Baptiste in an interview with Valérie Much, a journalist from France 3 Côte d’Azur. (…)

The police quickly intervened at the scene to arrest the suspect. The identity of the man is not yet known (…).  France 3 Régions

The man is also suspected of throwing stones at the church of Voeu. (…) Nice Matin

Nice : un homme armé vandalise l’église Sacré-Cœur, des statues détruites et une femme menacée au couteau. L’individu, interpellé et qui serait un touriste, aurait également jeté des pierres dans une autre église de la ville – Fdesouche