WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH) -- A statue that has been inside a historic Waterbury church for around a century was damaged earlier this week after a man allegedly beat it with a hammer.

Shortly after 8 a.m. on Wednesday, 23-year-old Kyran Atkinson walked into the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and took aim at the statue depicting the Virgin Mary, according to the Waterbury Police Department.

"He started just wailing on the statue of Mary," Father Sullivan, the priest at the church, said.

Atkinson allegedly said during the attack that he was doing it because his prayers weren't being answered. People inside the church called police, who quickly arrived to arrest Atkinson.

"We are fortunate the hands or the face or the arm were not touched," Father Sullivan said about the extent of the

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