The walls of Sacred Heart Church, located in downtown Bordeaux, France, were vandalized with Satanic graffiti and communist and anarchist symbols the night of March 12-13.

In addition, the vandals burned trash on the church’s esplanade.

The news was confirmed on March 13 by Constance Pluviaud, head of communications for the Archdiocese of Bordeaux.

“On the night of March 12-13, the door and some of the walls of the façade of the Church of the Sacred Heart were defaced with graffiti. A trash fire in front of the church was extinguished by firefighters called to the scene. This fire did not damage the church,” the archdiocese reported in a statement.

Pictures on social media show messages such as “Lucifer is right,” “Devil, take me with you,” “Thank you, Satan,” and “The neighbors hate the Church.”

According to Pluviaud, the parish has filed a complaint with the authorities for property damage.

Étienne Guyot, prefect of New Aquitaine and Gironde, lamented on Twitter that Sacred Heart Church was targeted with “hateful epithets and acts of vandalism.”

Guyot also denounced “these intolerable acts. An investigation has been opened so that the perpetrators can be identified and brought to justice.”

The Archdiocese of Bordeaux said it “shares the strong emotions of the Catholic faithful and residents shocked by this act.”

The church, located in Gironde Department (the administrative district), was designed by architect Jean-Jules Mondet in the 19th century. It was built at the behest of Cardinal Ferdinand-François-Auguste Donnet, the archbishop of Bordeaux from 1837 to 1882.

The Blessed Sacrament is exposed 24 hours a day in the church’s adoration chapel.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.