Police are still searching for the person who vandalized a statue of young Jesus outside of a Roman Catholic church in New York City.

Early Sunday morning surveillance footage showed a taxi driver get out of his cab at 5:30 a.m. and start using his shoe to hit a statue of Joseph, Mary, and young Jesus outside of Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Flushing, Queens.

The pastor at the church, Father Sean Suckiel spoke with the local news station, WABC, about the incident. 

"Then he goes to the front of the statue and starts hitting the face of St. Joseph, then attacks the Blessed Mother, then attacks the face of the child Jesus," says Suckiel.

The taller statues of Mary and Joseph had no lasting damage. However, the head of the statue of young Jesus did come off and was found nearby. The damage is estimated at $20,000. 

The NYPD has labelled the incident as a hate crime and is asking the public for assistance in identifying the vandal. 

"My heart just broke," Suckiel says. "And, of course, I'm asking the question: why? Why did this guy do this? Certainly, the statue is not in his way. It was very deliberate for him to do this, so the big question is why?"

Suckiel shared his thoughts towards the person who committed the crime, extending compassion to the man. 

"We pray for the guy, and we want justice served, but we also have to forgive, and we know that he could not have been in the right state of mind to do this."

The statues were erected in front of the church 40 years ago. 

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