CHAPEL AT SERBIAN ORTHODOX CEMETERY TARGET OF THE VANDALS AGAIN

KAKANJ, JULY 25 /SRNA/ – The chapel at the Serbian Orthodox cemetery Karaula near Kakanj has once again been targeted by vandals, who broke two windows on the building and entered inside, priest Dragiša Cvjetković told SRNA.

The priest noted that this is the fifth attack on a Serbian Orthodox site in the past few months. Officers from the Kakanj Police Station came to the scene and conducted an investigation, which confirmed that nothing had been stolen. He reminded that previously the chapel at Krsti on Mošćanica was broken into, the chapel at Plandište in Kakanj was stoned, the chapel at Viduša above Bilješevo was broken into, and glass was broken at the Karaula chapel. Between July 12 and 24, the glass was broken again, and this time the vandals entered the interior. Priest Cvjetković noted that the chapel at the Karaula cemetery was devastated during the war and was completely restored in 2019 thanks to donations from displaced parishioners in Australia, the diaspora, and the homeland, and since then it has been a place of prayer gatherings. He added that from 2017 to 2025, the chapel and cemetery at Karaula have been targeted by vandals five times. Cvjetković stated that in 2017, after the renovation of several headstones, six were damaged, and repairs amounting to BAM 5,500 were financed by the Kakanj municipality. During the first break-in in 2021, furniture, an oil lamp, and an icon were stolen, with damages amounting to about BAM 500. The procurement of new items was also financed by the local government, said the priest, adding that in March 2024 there was another break-in, and in May 2025 the chapel window glass was smashed. Priest Dragiša Cvjetković hopes that the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted.