PYRITES — Several religious statues were removed Tuesday from St. Paul's Oratory to prevent them from being vandalized.

Several people loaded two angels from the altar and large statues of Jesus and Mary onto the beds of two pickups headed for St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Canton for safekeeping. A smaller statue of Mary that was defaced also was removed.

The statues were protected from bumps in the road using the foam torn from the chapel's kneeling pads by a vandal, several blankets and a mattress. The small cobblestone chapel on Pink School House Road was extensively vandalized last month.

St. Lawrence County sheriff's investigators last week charged Anthony M. Leonard, 17, of 72 Church Hill St., with third-degree burglary and second-degree criminal mischief in the case. He's scheduled to appear today in Canton Town Court.

"My family has been involved in this church since it was built," said caretaker Edward K. White, who constructed the chapel's wooden altar, which is now marred by several large scratches. "The outpouring of support from the community has been great."

A woman has offered to pay for installation of a security system for the chapel and several volunteers are willing to help pick up the mess in the chapel, he said. The Knights of Columbus chapter in Canton also has offered to clean up the damage some time in the coming weeks.

The damage included all of the exterior doors being nailed shut from the inside, several stained-glass windows being smashed and all of the pads from the pew kneelers being ripped off. A majority of the kneeling pads were individually nailed across the top of two oak pews closest to the altar to form a crude shelter or fort.

"It will take some time to fix everything that was damaged," said Mr. White, who hopes to host a Christmas Day service here.

The plywood backings of the kneelers were used to board up two doorways, and nails prevented several stained-glass windows that swivel in the confessional room from opening. No graffiti were found in the building.

The vandal or vandals also broke the beard and nose of Jesus on two panels of the Stations of the Cross; the nose on a small statue of Mary also was broken off. A cost estimate of the damage wasn't available.

Mr. White said the nails from the oak pews and doorways were pulled out Tuesday. Pictures were taken of the damaged stained-glass window in the front of the church. The photos will be sent to a restoration expert to get an estimate on repairs.