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Date Posted: 10:16:06 03/26/04 Fri
Author: anon - 1 Mar 2004
Subject: Re: Weeping Virgin Mary portrait in Montreal
In reply to: ketch - 1 Mar 2004 's message, "Weeping Virgin Mary portrait in Montreal" on 10:15:35 03/26/04 Fri

Windows With Virgin Mary Image Broken

March 1, 2004 05:50 PM EST


CLEARWATER, Fla. - Office windows that thousands of visitors believe bear the image of the Virgin Mary - but experts said is just corrosion - were discovered broken Monday, police said.

The three top panes that showed what appeared to be the Virgin Mary's veiled head were destroyed, with just shards of glass remaining in the window frames. The damage was discovered Monday morning, and authorities believe it was done overnight, police spokesman Wayne Shelor said.

The image was first perceived a week before Christmas in 1996 in what was then a home-finance office, drawing almost 500,000 visitors within weeks. The building later became the home of Ohio-based Shepherds of Christ Ministries.

Police said three ball bearings were found at the scene. "We think probably somebody launched them using something like a slingshot, right up close to the glass," Shelor said.

Investigators were reviewing footage from a video camera aimed at the windows, but were unsure whether it would identify the vandals.

Stretching almost 60 feet high and more than 20 feet across on nine bronze-colored glass panels, the image to some observers evokes a stained-glass portrait of Mary. Shades of purple, blue, yellow and green wash across the mirrored surface, appearing to outline a robe-draped figure with downcast head.

Glass experts believe the image was created by a chemical reaction and corrosion of the metallic elements in the glass coating, but they could not explain why it took the shape it did.

So many pilgrims came to the site that extra police patrols were in place for a time.

"This is a big loss," said Mary Pardy, who visited the site Monday with out-of-town friends. "I bring a lot of people here who come to visit. It almost makes me sick to my stomach to think about it."

Six months after the apparition first drew worldwide attention, someone threw an undetermined liquid on it, marring it. But after two days of heavy thunderstorms, the blemishes were no longer visible.

The property was also the scene of a 1997 scuffle between Clearwater police and a Polish immigrant that ended with the man's death. Wieslaw Skowronek, 44, struggled with police after he was seen acting strangely outside the building and died when an officer kneed him in the abdomen, rupturing his pancreas.

The man's widow accepted a $325,000 settlement from the city.

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