MUMBAI: A catholic cross on S V Road, Vile Parle , Mumbai, was vandalized late Sunday night/early Monday morning.

The statue of Jesus on the cross situated at the gate of the LIC compound, had its arms hacked off. A mob gathered outside the compound as word of the desecration spread in the Vile Parle gaothan, a settlement of the East-Indian community. A police van was deployed at the site.

Godfrey Pimenta, vice-president of the East-Indian Association said the same cross had been vandalized in December last year. The accused are yet to be arrested, he said.

The Santa Cruz police at that time had called in finger print experts and sent the statue to the Forensic Science Laboratory at Kalina for testing. A new statue was installed in its place and this too has now been vandalized, said Pimenta.

"The cross is not only a centre of faith, it is over 100 years old and is a heritage structure," he said.

Crompton Texeria, a resident of Kalina and several members of the Bombay Catholic Sabha were at the police station to lodge a First Information Report. "We are a peace-loving community and we fail to understand why anyone would want to disturb the peace. It is very unfortunate that the police did not act promptly and arrest the accused the last time the cross was desecrated. It would not have happened again," he said.