Bosnian police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of vandalising a Catholic pilgrimage site, days before tens of thousands are to gather at the shrine, an official statement said.
The Medjugorje shrine, about 140 kilometres (87 miles) southwest of Sarajevo, rose to fame in the 1980s after purported apparitions of the Virgin Mary there.
It has become one of the most popular Catholic pilgrimage sites, with more than a million people visiting "Apparition Hill" every year.
Local media published images showing black spray paint covering the central statue of the Virgin Mary's face and the words "devil in a skirt" scrawled across the pedestal.
Security camera footage published by Jabuka TV showed a man setting fire to the outdoor altar of the nearby St James Church.
"A person linked to incidents was located and arrested" in the Medjugorje region, a police statement said.
Contacted by AFP regarding the nationality of the suspect, a police spokeswoman said that the "identification is ongoing".
Police were informed around 4:30 am (0230 GMT) that the statue at Podbrdo hill in Medjugorje had been damaged, with offensive messages written on it, the statement said.
They later received a report of a fire at the altar outside St James Church, the statement added.
- 'Visionaries' targeted -
Some of the graffiti, written in Polish and English, appeared to attack people who communicate messages from the reputed apparitions -- known locally as "visionaries".
The incident occurred just days before the prayer gathering held each year in the in the first week of August, that draws more than 50,000 young people from around the world to Medjugorje.
In September 2024, the Vatican recognised the shrine but stopped short of ruling on the messages that "visionaries" claimed to receive from the Virgin Mary.
The decision boosted the prominence of the pilgrimage site in the village, which has drawn followers ever since six young people reported seeing the Virgin Mary there in 1981.
The Medjugorje parish office said in a statement that the planned event would go ahead and repairs were underway.
"It is with great sadness that we learned of the act of vandalism targeting our parish's places of prayer," the parish office said.
The statement also called for followers to respond "through prayer, fasting, and forgiveness".
The Inter-religious Council, a non-governmental organisation promoting dialogue among Bosnia's religions, condemend the incidents in a statement labelling them an "attack on peace, mutual respect and the dignity of all people" in the Balkan nation.