Paint hurled at sacred icon

A man hurled cans of paint at Poland’s most sacred icon yesterday in an attack that failed to damage the Black Madonna of Jasna…

A man hurled cans of paint at Poland’s most sacred icon yesterday in an attack that failed to damage the Black Madonna of Jasna Gora but shocked many in the staunchly Catholic country.

The 58-year-old attacker was detained by guards at the monastery holding the revered depiction of Mary and the baby Jesus in the southern city of Czestochowa, police said.

“The icon is shielded by a protective plate of glass and was unharmed,” Czestochowa police spokeswoman Joanna Lazar said.

A statement on the Jasna Gora monastery website said the attacker had tried to deface the icon with a “black substance”. – (Reuters)