Not Key Largo's Christ Statue, Gratefully

The MailOnline reported that "suspected Satanists" cut the lower arms off the Christ Statue in Italy ... the same Statue casting that was used for the famed Christ of the Abyss Statue in Key Largo in my photo above.

Here is their report:

Scuba-diving 'Satanists' hack off arms of submerged Jesus statue
By NICK PISA
Last updated at 4:24 PM on 17th April 2009

Scuba diving Satanists who hacked off the arms of a submerged statue of Jesus Christ are being hunted by Italian police.

The attack was carried out at a depth of 75ft below the surface of the sea on the statute which is known as the Christ of the Abyss.

It was sent to the bottom of the Mediterranean by Pope John Paul II in December 2000 at a ceremony for the Italian Diving Association and is a well known landmark for divers.


Christ of the Abyss: Police suspect Satanists may have hacked off the statue's arms

Instructor Domenico Battistello, 61, who runs the International Diving Centre at Giglio, an island of the coast of Tuscany, 80 miles from Rome, discovered the handless statue during a dive.

'"The statue is well known to all the divers and it was placed there following a blessing ceremony by Pope John Paul II,' he said.

'The hands of the Christ were raised upwards and it faced out to sea and it was a symbol for anyone who had anything to do with the Mediterranean.

'It's not clear when it happened as during the winter not many people go diving but I found the statue with no hands a couple of days ago.

'I was taking a dive and swam up to the statute but as I got closer I noticed the arms were missing from the elbows down.

'I looked around in the sand but there was no trace of them they had just disappeared - it is a disgrace.

'Someone has deliberately wanted to attack a religious symbol that is held very dearly by fishermen, divers and locals - we hold a yearly procession to the statue.'

A police spokesman on Giglio said: 'Because of the depth it is very unlikely that the statue was damaged by a propeller or net.

'It looks like a very deliberate attack and because it is 25 metres underwater someone was very well equipped to go down there and take off the arms.

'It's possible it could be an attack by Satanists who knew the statue was there and who also knew that it was a very revered symbol for the locals so it is a line of investigation.'

Very, very strange people out there, above and below the water.