Vandals have desecrated a Somerset church by shooting the face of Jesus out of a stained glass window.
The blasphemous act has shocked Christians who have had to come to terms with the fact that church buildings are no longer regarded as sacred by thieves and vandals.
And coming hot on the heels of the attack on the Catholic cathedral in Clifton in Bristol, some fear using Jesus's face as target practice signals what is becoming a lack of respect for Christian values.
Parishioners believe an air rifle may have been used to shoot the Lord's face out of the window at Grade I listed St Bartholomew's Church in Crewkerne because the glass was removed so accurately.
The Rev Michael Gallagher said: "We have had damage to the church in years gone by but we thought that had passed. But over the past couple of months we seem to have been targeted once more. It makes sense now someone has been suggested that somebody may be using an air rifle because it is clearly being done accurately and deliberately.
"Recently we arrived to find that the face of Jesus Christ had been smashed through. I think that these things are being done in the dead of night – it has to be, because we leave the church in a perfect state but arrive to find smashed glass all over the floor.
"I don't know if it's coincidental or deliberate, but they have clearly hit out Jesus's face. I don't want to present it as an act of sacrilege but they did hit the face which is the most intricate and expensive piece of glass to replace."
Wardens are counting the cost of the latest attack.
Dorothy Tozer, churchwarden, said: "It is very distressing. It started happening before Christmas and to replace just one of the windows would cost us £2,350.
"We spent a lot of money last year to get the church a bit warmer for visitors but the holes in the windows are not helping at all. They are small holes but the windows are painted and bespoke making them very expensive to replace. Our church was listed as one of the top 100 churches in the country in a recent book and people come from all over the place to visit. It is much-loved by local people.
"It really is very sad that people feel the need to desecrate the church."
A spokesperson for the Diocese of Bath & Wells said: "It is sad to learn that places of worship continue to be targeted by vandals. Pointless acts of vandalism can cause distress and inflict an economic cost to local communities. Vandalism is not a victimless crime."
On Christmas Eve a group of self-styled "anarchists" glued shut the doors, smashed a stained glass window and daubed anti-religious graffiti on the porch of Clifton Cathedral in Bristol.
Stephen Green, of Christian Voice, said: "If this is a case of people wanting to lash out at the church because they don't like the Christian way of life, it really is a worrying development.
"You would hope that people would have more respect but people seem to have little respect for life, let alone the deity.
"If this is a case of people taking their hate this far, then it shows how far civilisations has broken down in the UK."
Avon and Somerset police say they are investigating a spate of attacks over the last two months.
A spokeman for Ecclesiastical Insurance said vandal attacks on churches fell to the lowest level for three years in 2013. Around 400 were reported.
A spokesman for the Church Conservation Trust said damage to heritage buildings was usually opportunistic rather than expressing anti-religious sentiment.
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