Armenian church desecrated in Akhaltsikhe

ArmInfo.  Icons were removed from the Armenian Apostolic Church church in the Marda settlement of Akhaltsikhe and placed next to a trash bin. According to Georgia-Online, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs has  launched an investigation under Article 155 of the Criminal Code -  illegal obstruction of a religious ceremony.

This church has reportedly been the subject of a dispute between the  Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic Dioceses for many years, and services  are no longer held there. The rector of the Armenian Apostolic  Church, Monk Hakob Sahakyan, said he does not know who removed the  icons from the church or why. "I was there that evening too.

Most likely, it happened late at night, after two o'clock. Everything  was taken outside-icons and other things. Trash was piled on top of  everything. The icons were in very poor condition. We brought  everything back and put it back. We don't know who did this. A normal  person wouldn't have done that," he said.

Apparently, this refers to the Surb Vardanants (Surb Nshan) Church in  Akhaltsikhe, located in the Marda (Marta) district of the same city,  on the steep slope of a small hill. The area where the Surb Nshan  Church was built in 1829-1830 was named Surb Nshan by Armenians who  moved to Akhaltsikhe from Karin, in memory of the sacred mountain  near their former village. The church's ownership has been disputed  since 1989.