Image: Kataeb.org (source article)
Statues smashed at Zgharta cemetery; theft for drugs cited in Baalbek graves case
Unknown attackers stormed the Saints Cemetery in Harat al-Fouar at dawn, while a security source says the Hadath Baalbek suspect was looking for valuables to buy drugs.
Unknown individuals broke into the Saints Cemetery in Harat al-Fouar, in the Zgharta district of north Lebanon, at dawn on Sunday and smashed statues, scattered the contents of graves and damaged other property, according to L'Orient Today, Al-Markazia and the Kataeb party website. A security source told L'Orient Today that two statues were destroyed.
The attackers fled. Security forces opened an investigation and are working to identify those involved ahead of arrests. L'Orient Today noted that religious statues are vandalised from time to time in different parts of Lebanon, citing attacks on the Saint John Chrysostom Monastery in Koubba in August and the Saint Challita Shrine in Akkar in May.
The attack came on the same day that three graves were found opened in Hadath Baalbek, in the Bekaa. Army intelligence arrested a suspect there on Sunday evening. A security source told An-Nahar that the motive was theft: the suspect was searching the coffins for valuables to pay for drugs. He was referred to the competent authorities.
The desecration of Christian cemeteries in two regions in a single day has drawn condemnation across the political spectrum. Lebanese Lobby notes that the swift arrest in Baalbek shows what the state's security services can do when they act.
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