Muslim Vandals Desecrate Saint Statue in Italy

"We shouldn't fall for this trap."

6.29.2016

Citizens of Bologna, Italy, were deeply upset over the weekend to discover that an historic statue of the Catholic Saint Petronius had been desecrated with graffiti.

The statue, which dates all the way back to 1683, had the words "Allah Akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic) painted across the pedestal, resulting in political tension throughout the city. See below:

According to Church Militant, the statue rests "between the two iconic towers that provide the main scenery for the city's postcards (one of the towers, the Garisenda, was mentioned by Dante Alighieri in the 'Divine Comedy')."

Naturally, the incident has resulted in more debate over the presence Muslim migrants in Italy, prompting responses from both sides of the aisle.

Bologna's recently re-elected mayor, Virginio Merola, has echoed the call of the leftist establishment by imploring his (righteously) angry citizens to take pride in their diversity and not make any snap judgments.

"I hope this was just a foolish stunt," said the mayor. "Bologna is a city where different cultures and religions have co-existed for centuries in dialogue, and such a gesture isn't welcome."

Doubtful that Mayor Merola meant the Crusades when he said "religions have co-existed for centuries" in the region. As reported by Church Militant:

The Democratic Party mayor is warm towards the Muslim community, and Bologna, traditionally known as "Red Bologna" for its communist sympathies, is one of North Italy's main hubs for the sheltering of Middle-Eastern refugees. Two years ago the average flow of one of its leading shelters consisted of more than 100 refugees a week. And in 2015, the city set aside nearly 2 million euros for the construction of new buildings, with controversy surrounding the University of Bologna's decision to fund the college education of asylum seekers.

Some have even gone so far as to speculate that the graffiti actually occurred as an attempt to frame Muslims.

"[A] person acquainted with Islam wouldn't miss the right spelling, which is 'Allah(u) Akbar,'" argued Valentina Colombo, professor of History of Islamic countries at the European University of Rome. "It might have been a kid's dare. Or it might be that the purpose was to polarize the city. We shouldn't fall for this trap."

Professor Colombo may be right, because graffiti artists are notorious for having perfect grammar. Just look at the regular Shakespeares and Oscar Wildes plastering their poetic tomes across the streets of Downtown Los Angeles:

You almost feel smarter just by looking at it. Imagine what a linguistic genius it took to write it.

The only sensible response to this despicable desecration of an historic monument has, predictably, come from Galeazzo Bignami, regional leader of center-right party Forza Italia, who called the act another example of the Italian "La Dolce Vita" attitude coming back to bite them.

"If we continue to show ourselves as extremely tolerant, welcoming, permissive, if we continue to say they are all unfortunate and desperate refugees, if we continue to allow them all to come indiscriminately, this is what will continue to happen," said Bignami. "They start by writing blasphemies on our statues, and we will likely end up like guests in our own home."