LUDLOW, Mass. - A quiet, peaceful place to come and pray has been disrupted by an act of vandalism.

"The posts are damaged with fire and the Our Lady statue, you can see up to her face, it's all smoke there," Father Vitor Oliveira, the Pastor at Our Lady of Fatima Church, explained to Spectrum News 1 on Tuesday.

The marble statue of Our Lady of Fatima was set on fire. Father Oliveira explained that since marble doesn't light, the statue has marks around the face and shoulder, but the arch around Her which was once covered in flowers, was completely burned.

He became aware of the incident on Friday and believes this happened sometime overnight.

"The vandalism done to our Marian shrine is heart breaking, both in the damaging courage and equally the disrespect to our faith community," said Father Oliveira, adding in his 31 years at the parish, this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

The last incident was about four years ago. 

"Last time they were children who did that, teenagers, and probably did the same thing," Father Oliveira said.

Oliveira said they have no way to close off the area, so it is disheartening to see damage done to the sacred space for the second time. "It's open to everyone to come and worship and for anyone who wants to come and do anything that evil too," he said.

Police are investigating and the parish is hoping someone will come forward with information. 

"We are stronger than any act of vandalism," Father Oliveira said. "We will restore the shrine and at the same time pray for those who did this terrible thing."

Father Oliveira said they don't have an estimate on how much it is going to cost to fix the damages yet, but they are asking anyone who has any information about this vandalism to contact the Ludlow Police Department.