Last week, a statue of Jesus situated outside of St. Joseph Cathedral's parish office was defaced, according to The Advocate. 

Dan Borne, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge released a statement on Saturday morning regarding the incident, saying, The Sacred Heart of Jesus statue was "defaced with vulgar graffiti overnight this past Thursday."

At this time, the exact nature or message of the graffiti remains unknown. 

However, Borne said the graffiti was discovered by a parishioner Thursday morning and reported to the pastor. This led the diocese to conclude the defacement occurred late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. By Friday at noon it had been cleaned by parishioners.

"Persons of every religion should pray that all seeking respect also seek respectful ways to achieve their wishes,” Borne said.

The diocese said it preferred to handle the matter internally, in lieu of filing a police report.