BROOKLYN, NY – New video surveillance footage was released on October 11 as the NYPD continues to search for a suspect who defaced the Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church in Brooklyn on July 17, CBS News New York reported.

According to police, the suspect used a ladder to climb up the façade of the church around 4 AM on July 17 on Avenue P in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.

“The suspect then splattered black paint on the church and on a banner hanging off the façade,” CBS News reported, adding that “the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is handling the investigation.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be submitted via the NYPD website: https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.

Of the six Greek Orthodox Churches in Brooklyn, NY, the Three Hierarchs Parish is the second oldest community. Three Hierarchs was named by Archbishop Alexander in 1922, the result of the efforts of three laymen from the southern part of Brooklyn. These three appealed on behalf of the immigrant laboring community to establish a new church community to be located in Brooklyn in the Coney Island area. The three businessmen who appealed to Archbishop Alexander were Vasilios, Ioannis and Gregorios.

By Divine Inspiration, the name of the new community was named in honor of the three businessmen who appealed to Archbishop Alexander, as a result, Three Holy Hierarchs – Saint Basil (Vasilios) the Great, Saint John (Ioannis) Chrysostomos, and Saint Gregory the Theologian, became the name of the new community. The Three Hierarchs Parish was chartered in 1929 and has since grown to serve the Brooklyn Orthodox Community for nine decades.