NYERI APRIL 26, 2016 (CISA) – Portraits of Blessed Irene Stefani, which were erected in Nyeri town during her beatification ceremony in 2015 have gone missing.
The steel bars are also missing from the memorial plaque that was unveiled by President Uhuru Kenyatta on May 23, 2015 when he graced the historic ceremony.
This comes a month before the Catholic Church marks the first anniversary of the beatification of the nun. Fr Peter Githinji the diocesan postulator – Catholic diocese of Nyeri indicated that people who made away with the nun’s pictures could have been fanatics who wanted to place them in their homes.
He however, condemned the act and called for the County Government to take care of the historic monument. “They planted the plaque there and placed the pictures too, it is their obligation to ensure that place is safe and clean at all times. They should also improve the place with proper lighting,” Fr Githinji stated.
County Executive for Special Programmes Lucy Wanyitu, expressed her disappointment after learning about the vandalism of the plaque, stating that the people involved lacked a sense of duty to serve their county and conserve their environment.
“I am sending social workers to the location to find out what can be done,” Ms Wanyitu said.
Other pictures placed together with those of Blessed Nyaatha’s show conserved wildlife and agricultural activities within the county, some of which have fallen off with the two pictures of Sister Nyaatha conspicuously missing.
