A parish in Mexico City lost three bronze sculptures and three commemorative plaques in a pre-dawn theft, while a church in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, reported the theft of two gas canisters and a bin by a suspect who fled across rooftops. The incidents, occurring within hours of each other on 7 July, targeted Catholic places of worship and prompted police responses that have so far yielded one arrest and one identified suspect still at large.

In the Mexican capital, the Parroquia de San Cosme y San Damián in the Cuauhtémoc borough was entered between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m., according to the parish priest, Father José de Jesús Aguilar. He stated that the intruders jumped a perimeter fence, broke a chain securing an exterior gate, and removed two large angel sculptures, a piece inspired by the artist Remedios Varo, and three bronze plaques—one dedicated to mothers of disappeared persons, one to pets, and one bearing information about works by Leonora Carrington. The priest estimated the sculptures’ value at over 150,000 pesos and appealed to the public not to purchase the items, which he feared would be sold for scrap. Mexico City’s Secretariat of Citizen Security later confirmed the arrest of a 26-year-old man found in the vicinity with 19 bags of a substance resembling marijuana and five handmade cigarettes. The suspect matched descriptions from surveillance footage, but authorities have not confirmed whether the stolen artworks have been recovered. Investigations continue to locate additional participants.

In Belo Horizonte, the Paróquia Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Pompeia was burgled during the early hours of the same day. The Military Police of Minas Gerais reported that the suspect, identified as Anderson Túlio Martins do Nascimento, 36, was captured on the church’s security cameras, which allowed officers to determine his physical characteristics and clothing. When police arrived at his residence, they encountered barricades made of wood with nails and wire, apparently erected to impede an arrest. As of the latest updates, the suspect had not been detained. Footage circulating on social media, reportedly recorded by residents, showed the man escaping across a rooftop.

Viewed from the region, the two cases illustrate a recurring vulnerability of religious buildings to property crime, often driven by the resale value of materials. Mexican church officials have framed the theft as a loss of both artistic heritage and community memorials, while Brazilian police have highlighted the suspect’s efforts to evade capture. No evidence has emerged linking the two events, and authorities in both countries are treating them as separate local investigations.