
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 48-year-old man accused of breaking a statue of Christ’s mother in front of St. John’s Catholic Church at 201 N. Knoblock in Stillwater has been jailed pending a court appearance Tuesday after being sought for weeks on an arrest warrant that was issued on July 3, court records show.
Matthew Christopher Sies, whose address is unknown, was ordered held on $5,000 bail on a felony charge of malicious injury/defacing a house of worship, which carries a possible penalty of a two-year prison term and $1,000 fine on conviction.
Stillwater Police Officer Justin Sappington had been sent at 9:18 am on June 26 to the church where Father Kerry Wakulich told him that a statue of the Virgin Mary in front of the church had been vandalized, an affidavit said.
“The nose of the statue was missing along with a piece of the veil above her eyes. There were several marks on the face of the statue indicating that it had been struck more than once. Father Wakulich then directed my attention to the south side of the church where I observed a large chunk of concrete,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
“The concrete had marks on one edge where pieces had been chipped off of it. Upon further inspection, I observed concrete debris at the feet of the statue indicating the chunk of concrete was the tool used to damage the statue,” the officer wrote in his affidavit.
The statue that is six feet tall and depicts Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was hand-carved in Italy in 2013 and valued at $20,000, the affidavit said.
“Father Wakulich advised the statue was previously kept in the church grotto for safety, but when the new church was built, they decided to display it,” the affidavit said.
According to video footage, the vandalism occurred at about 11:30 pm on June 20, the affidavit said.
“Father Wakulich sent me two still photographs from the video which depicted the suspect. I sent the photos out to all of SPD sworn staff via email and Master Police Officer Houston advised the suspect in the video looked like Matthew Christopher Sies,” whom he and Master Police Officer Vassar had contacted on June 19 at about 9:13 am at Our Daily Bread, Officer Sappington alleged in his affidavit.
“MPO Houston later pulled his body cam footage from the contact and sent me two still shots,” that appear to be the same person as the suspect who vandalized the statue, Officer Sappington alleged in his affidavit.
“Myself, MPO Houston and MPO Vassar all believe the suspect in the video to be Matthew Sies,” whose address is unknown, the affidavit alleged.