They steal the Virgin Mary from the shrine on Costitx's Main Street

CostitxCostitx has woken up to one of those news items that hurt the spirit, memory, and heritage. Unknown individuals have stolen the image of the Virgin Mary that presided over the well-known chapel on Carrer Major, located right at the entrance to the urban center when arriving from the Sencelles road.

The image, carved in stone, not only had heritage value but also, and primarily, sentimental value. The place where the chapel stands was and is a visual and spiritual reference point for generations of Costitx residents. It was the silhouette that welcomed neighbors and visitors entering the town, a symbol of protection and tradition rooted in local history.

Antoni Salas, mayor of Costitx, points out that "we are talking about the theft of a cataloged asset. It is a marès figure from Santanyí dated 1913. Both the image and the small chapel were restored in 2023". Salas explains that "beyond the heritage value, which it has as a cataloged asset, it is the sentimental value that the image represents for the people of Costitx". The alert from the first neighbors who saw the misdeed arrived at 5:45 a.m. Now the Local Police and the Civil Guard are searching for those responsible while Salas explains that "I want to think it's a bad joke and the image will be returned, as the fines for these people can be very high and even include prison sentences".

The malaise and indignation over this event has generated deep sadness among the neighbors, who do not understand how such an act of disrespect towards this figure and, especially, what it represents, can be committed.

The Local Police request the collaboration of anyone who may have seen any suspicious movement in the area tonight or who has any clue as to the whereabouts of the image. The objective of the entire town is to recover the Virgin Mary and return her to her place.

History

This small chapel recalls the place where tradition locates the finding of the image of the Virgin Mary. According to legend, some boys walking with a priest found the image in a pomegranate tree shortly after the conquest of 1229. The people of Costitx decided to build a chapel for her, which was the first parish of Canarrossa. Years later, due to the transfer of the parish to Sencelles, the people of Sencelles wanted to take the image to the church of Sencelles, but, as in all Majorcan Marian legends, it disappeared to return to its primitive chapel in Costitx.

The stolen image is not the wooden carving to which the legend refers and which is found in the parish of Costitx. But it is a replica image of the wooden one which, located in this place, has a strong sentimental value for the people of Costitx.