Christ, the saints, relics and paintings dumped among the rubble.

"A real shame": centuries-old Christ statue ends up with the stone rubble after church renovations

According to DAS opposition councillors, a centuries-old Christ statue ended up with the stone rubble.

An uproar has arisen on social media after a centuries-old Christ statue from St Peter's Church in De Panne ended up with the stone rubble, according to opposition party DAS. "The matter will be closely investigated," said Mayor Bram Degrieck (Het Plan-B).

In photos shared by opposition party DAS on social media, the statue of Christ lies among stone rubble during renovations at the church, where the new library is to be built. The party calls it disrespectful how heritage from the church is being handled during the works. "It is a real shame how recklessly the removed heritage is being handled," said Christophe Delrive (DAS), supported by his colleagues Ann Woestijn and Danny Butstraen.

"We wish to emphasise that we are certainly not pillar biters, but surely the city council should treat our past with a minimum of respect. Hundreds of Panne residents remember the imposing crucifix above the altar on the occasion of a baptism, first communion of a grandchild, solemn communion, a wedding or a funeral. When the church was evacuated, the large crucifix was completely damaged and ended up with the stone debris. Statues, relics and paintings with works possibly attributable to Eustache Lescueur (17th century) ended up in a heap among the rubbish," councillors explained. 

In photos shared by the opposition DAS party on social media, the Christ statue lies among the stone rubble.

"We were instructed to clear and follow up everything, as everything that needed to be preserved was inventoried," said a technical services employee involved in the works. "This contains about 90 per cent of everything that was there, and it was a lot. As for the statue of Jesus Christ, I can confirm that we removed it very carefully. We carried out the works with two scissor lifts and six workers. The statue was safely stored in the depot in Adinkerke. The rest of the material is safely in wooden bins and will soon get its reuse. We therefore have serious questions about the credibility with the pictures," it sounds.(Continue reading below photo)

According to the opposition party, statues, relics and paintings were also piled up among the rubbish.

Internal investigation

Alderman Wim Janssens (ACT!E) informs that there will be an internal investigation into how the statue ended up among the stone rubble. "Together with some colleagues from the technical department, we have now recovered the statue and its accompanying elements and put them safely away. We are launching an internal investigation. This sculpture obviously had to be stored like the other elements," the alderman said.

Mayor Bram Degrieck (The Plan-B) also confirmed that the case will be investigated. "It is a serious allegation that will be closely investigated. The employees of our technical service are being deliberately publicly exposed by this text and photos in the hope of winning souls with it, and you know I can't stand that," the mayor informed.

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