By Kevin Shea

Last Friday, the Italian American Heritage Center on Liberty Street took delivery of a new Roman statue.

The next day, it was in pieces in front of the Liberty Street building, knocked over by a suspected vandal, or vandals. And for the second time in less than a year, John Scarpati Sr. was at a loss as to why someone would target the organization.

"I think they were trying to knock over another one too," Scarpati said Friday at the building. He moved another statue inside this past weekend for safe keeping until the building's new security system is installed. The building is home to the Mercer County Italian American Festival Association and last July they suffered a similar incident - someone defaced a 7-foot statue of Christopher Columbus that stands on a pedestal in front of the building.

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Source: http://www.nj.com/