Authorities in Bosnia say they are investigating the desecration of a Virgin Mary statue and a shrine damaged by fire overnight in a southern Bosnian village, a popular destination for Roman Catholic pilgrims.

Two years earlier, the Vatican gave its approval for Catholics to continue flocking to Medjugorje, where children reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary, The Independent newspaper reported in an Associated Press story.

The Vatican offered its approval for devotion at one of the most contested sites of Catholic practice in recent years in the country which has the full name Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was once part of Yugoslavia.

Pictures from the site in local media showed the statue of Our Lady, the mother of Jesus, had her face and hands painted black, with an inscription in English on the pedestal that read "Devil in a skirt."

The Marian shrine of Medjugorje, about 140 kilometers southwest of the capital Sarajevo, rose to fame in the 1980s after purported apparitions of the Virgin Mary there, RTE reported

In 1981, six children and teenagers had reported seeing visions of the Madonna on a hill in Medjugorje, located in the wine-making region of southern Bosnia.

Some of those original "seers" have claimed the visions have occurred regularly since then, even daily, and that Mary sends them messages.

Close to the site, a banner was found displayed on a fence with the names of the seers and a message written in Polish that said: "They are fraudsters, I have proof."

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 and regularly pass on to believers.

The decision boosted the prominence of the site in the small village, which has drawn followers since six young people reported seeing the Virgin Mary in 1981.

The Medjugorje parish office said in a statement that the event would go ahead and repairs were under way.

"It is with great sadness that we learned of the act of vandalism targeting our parish's places of prayer," the office said.

The statement also called for its followers to respond "through prayer, fasting, and forgiveness."

Bosnia and Herzegovina's population is predominantly Muslim (about 50–51 percent), followed by Eastern Orthodox Christians (around 30–31 percent) and Roman Catholics (about 15 percent), according to Microsoft Co-Pilot.

These proportions come from the 2013 census and are widely cited in demographic sources.

Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524.