A newly renovated chapel at St. Zakharia Catholic Church in Rantau Alay, Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, was vandalized by an unidentified group on Thursday morning.

The chapel, which belongs to the Seberang Ulu parish, is located in Mekar Sari hamlet. 

Eyewitnesses said the attackers damaged the chapel’s walls, benches and statues. They also attempted to set it on fire.  

South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Zulkarnain said the incident was “shocking”. 

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“All of a sudden some people riding motorcycles launched the attack,” Zulkarnain added, according to tribunnews.com on Thursday. 

The renovated chapel was officially opened on March 4. 

Police are investigating the incident and have not made any arrests yet. 

The chairman of the Catholic Church youth wing in South Sumatra, Yoseph Aurelius Lando Keytimu, called on the police to follow up the case. 

The incident comes after a man wielding a sword injured four congregants and a police officer at St. Lidwina Church in Yogyakarta on Feb.11. (gis/dmr)