Israel's military has said it investigating an Israeli soldier who was photographed smoking and placing another cigarette on the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in occupied southern Lebanon.
The picture was said to have been taken in the Christian village of Debel, where another soldier was photographed last month hitting a statue of Jesus in the face with a sledgehammer.
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said it viewed the incident with "utmost severity" and that the conduct of the soldier "completely deviates from the values expected of its personnel".
The act was also reportedly condemned by the Roman Catholic Church's representative in the Holy Land.
"This is disrespectful and outrageous behaviour that must stop immediately," the Custodia Terrae Sanctae was quoted as saying by Israel's Haaretz newspaper.
