Obtained by Daily NewsEarly Tuesday, this bearded man in a red T-shirt jumped over a small fence outside the Jamaica church’s rectory, picked up a large rock from the garden and repeatedly struck the statue in the head with it. (NYPD) A vandal was caught on video bashing a statue of the Virgin Mary with a rock outside a Queens Catholic church earlier this week — a biased attack that left congregants on edge. “I feel sad, I cry,” Nely Quintanilla, 25, told the Daily News Saturday as she stood outside  Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church on Parsons Blvd. in Jamaica, just steps from the broken, bone-white statue. “I’m here in this church 25 years,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief. Early Tuesday, a bearded man in a red T-shirt and a white baseball cap jumped over a small white wooden fence outside the church’s rectory, picked up a large rock from the garden, and repeatedly struck the statue in the head with it. “It’s very unfortunate what happened,” congregant Angie Rivera said.  “We take it pretty heavy since it’s something we practice daily, weekly, some people in their daily lifestyle. [The statue is] a reflection and it’s a reminder to honor our mother, to honor God’s mother. It’s a constant reminder to respect the holy ground.” Video of the 3:15 a.m. vandalism shows the man repeatedly smashing the rock against Mary’s head. The attack was so forceful that the rock broke apart in his hand after a few strikes. https://www.nydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/vandalism_at_presentation_of_the_blessed_virgin_mary-1080p.mp4 “As he was hitting the face, you see dust — but it’s not dust coming from the statue, it’s coming from the block,” said church pastor Father Victor Bolaños, who reviewed the video before handing it over to police. “I saw a lot of anger and violence in this man. You see somebody who is struggling so much with life.” The vandal succeeded in smashing off the statue’s hands before running off. Church workers recovered the broken hands, which were steepled in prayer, and hope to reaffix them to the statue. “The only [thing] that is broken is the hands,” Father Bolaños said. “The rest is damaged. I have the hands.” Rebecca White for New York Daily NewsThe Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Jamaica, Queens, Saturday morning, where the praying hands of the Mary statue, above, were smashed off by a vandal early Tuesday morning. (Rebecca White for New York Daily News) Quintanilla said vandals have been targeting Mary statues across the globe over the years. This year alone, there have been statue desecrations in Washington, D.C., and Kansas City. Earlier this year in Austria, someone beheaded a sculpture of Mary giving birth. “This happens in different places, not only here,” Quintanilla said about the attack. “Everywhere this happens. Especially for that statue. That’s sad.” The Mary still stood Saturday, but its face remained damaged — its serene gaze suffering impact blasts to the nose, forehead and above the right eye. “Her face is marked up and her hands are completely missing,” Rivera, 25, said. “I don’t see defeat but I see sadness only because she has a lot to puncture wounds to the face, so this is very intentional. She also feels empty because her main image was her hands. “They were pointing up to the sky but they were very relaxed,” she said of the hands. “And now that they’re not there — it’s just like she’s looking [down at them] but there’s nothing to look down to.” The desecration left congregant Jose Pesaro outraged. “This world is really crazy. There is no respect,” Pesaro, 48, said. “They’re mad or on drugs?” he asked. “It’s a church, a private place. Respect is going away.” The statue was gifted to the parish by Mary Immaculate Hospital when it closed in 2009. In a separate incident last year at the same church, a vandal damaged the sword of the statue of St. Michael the Archangel. The damaged statue was ultimately replaced. Bolaños said he would pray for the vandal. Rebecca White for New York Daily NewsFather Victor M. Bolaños, pastor of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, holding the broken-off hands of the statue of the Blessed Mother in his office at the church on Saturday morning. (Rebecca White for New York Daily News) “She survived,” he said of the statue. “Only humility can survive any attack. Mary is humble — so humility can absorb the pain and the violence of the others. Even though the hands were removed, they will go back. She will keep praying.” Rivera looks forward to the day the Mary monument is returned to its original splendor. “We’re going to put our statue right back up as she should,” she said. “She should stand tall and pretty. And it’s a reminder to all [to] keep peace.” If captured, the vandal could face criminal mischief and hate crime charges. Anyone with information regarding the suspect’s whereabouts is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All tips will be kept confidential.