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AUBURN | The man accused of cutting off the hands and smashing in the face of an Auburn church's Virgin Mary statue could be charged with a hate crime.

On Thursday morning in Cayuga County Court, David Ammerman opted to have his case presented to the grand jury — an option District Attorney Jon Budelmann cautioned could ultimately result in an indictment that accused Ammerman of damaging the St. Francis of Assisi Church's shrine out of religious discrimination.

At the words "hate crime," the shackled defendant offered a loud reply.

"You call it what you want, man," Ammerman said.

The 43-year-old Auburn man stands accused climbing into the 299 Clark St. church's Our Lady of Lourdes shrine on Halloween night and desecrating the statue of the Virgin Mary.

And according to the Auburn Police Department, Ammerman allegedly took a hammer to the statue's face and removed its praying hands because he was upset Catholics prayed to a statue of Mary.

Before Ammerman announced he was not interested in pleading guilty to second-degree criminal mischief, a felony, he told the court that as a Mormon, he was no stranger to religious discrimination.