A GENEROUS Penarth man has helped keep the spirit of Christmas alive at a church where a statue of the Virgin Mary was smashed by vandals earlier this year.

As previously reported in the Penarth Times (September 10, 2009) a group of teenagers damaged the £2,500 marble sculpture, at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Dinas Powys, on September 5.

The incident devastated parishioners of the Edith Road church, who found the head of the 5ft tall statue had come away from the body when they arrived for morning mass the following day.

After reading about the incident, Simon Morgan, managing director of Mossfords Memorial Masons in Cardiff, got in touch with church members to see if he could help.

And, after working to repair the statue for two months, it was finally put back on Thursday (December 10) - on the pedestal where it has sat since 1971. Mr Morgan, who lives in Station Road, Penarth, and was married at the Dinas Powys church, said: “On seeing the article in the Penarth Times we decided to contact the church and volunteer to restore the statue to its former glory free of charge.

“We spent several weeks repairing the broken head and re-carving new matching marble hands, which were also lost during the vandalism.

“The statue was also professionally cleaned removing many years of dirt and grime.

“We have now re-erected the statue in its original position outside the church,” he added.

“Additional hidden safety fixings have also been added to ensure that it is more secure and to hopefully prevent a repeat of the unfortunate incident.”

Dr Martin Price, Chair of St Mary’s Finance Committee, was devastated by the vandalism and was quick to praise Mr Morgan.

He said: “It really is a generous offer and Simon and his team have done an excellent job.

“The statue actually looks better than it did before and it’s great to see it back in its rightful place.

“Parishioners can now look forward to seeing it over Christmas.”