Const. Matt Szabo holds a broken tombstone in the Father Lacombe Cemetery on Sunday after several gravesites, a Saint Bernadette statue and the burial site of Father Lacombe's heart were all desecrated by vandals.

CALGARY - Vandals went on a rampage at a southeast Calgary cemetery, destroying tombstones, smashing sacred objects and desecrating the tomb where the heart of a noted Catholic priest is buried.

Const. Matt Szabo said police are still on the hunt for those behind the destructive acts at the Father Lacombe cemetery and park properties at 316 146 Ave. S.E. that occurred sometime overnight Saturday.

“They smashed bottles on the statue of Mary, they ripped out a statue of Saint Bernadette right from the ground and in the process they threw it and they caused her to break,” he said.

“They then went into the cemetery, which is all for nuns, and broke nine tombstones in there, with a combination of kicking them, ripping them apart.”

Most of the items destroyed were irreplaceable and irreparable, some of the tombstones dated as far back as the 1930s.

Szabo said the vandals took two of the tombstones and threw them at the statue of Jesus on the cross.

The statue was dented and chipped, he said.

“They then went and took another headstone of one the sisters who passed away and took it to Father Lacombe’s headstone and threw it at a wooden cross and in the process they took a big chunk of the wooden cross out,” he said.

Father Albert Lacombe was one of the pioneer missionary priests with the Order of the Mary Immaculate (OMI) who came to Alberta in 1852.

He died in 1916.

Father Lacombe’s body was buried in St. Albert while his heart was separated and buried in the Sisters of Providence cemetery in Calgary, originally at 2215 28 St. S.W., before it was moved to its current location.

The Providence Sisters own a continuing care centre and the vandalized cemetery for nuns, perched on top of a hill looking over Fish Creek Provincial Park.

Szabo said the crime happened between 11 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m., Sunday, but police are still investigating how many culprits were involved.

Duty Insp. Keith Cain said police received a call at around noon reporting the incident.

“Fortunately, it doesn’t happen very often, but we seem to have several calls every year. For whatever reason people do some damage in the properties in cemeteries,” said Cain.

Police are asking anyone with information about the vandalism spree to call District 8 at 403-567-6800 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

renato.gandia@sunmedia.ca