The historic Jesus and Mary convent in Gravelbourg suffered extensive damage after the building was broken into by vandals December 3rd.

The  convent was formerly the site of an elementary school and now houses a number of businesses and organizations.

The vandals broke in Saturday night – but the damage was not discovered until the early morning hours of sunday.

Lacey Langlois has been a tenant at the building for the last 5 years. She says the damages are devastating.

“These kind of heritage buildings need to be protected and respected. I just don’t understand why this happens.”

Several irreplaceable statues and pieces of artwork were destroyed by the as of yet unknown vandals.

“The convent is over 100 years old. The wood work is all old fir wood, and the light fixtures are beautiful glass pendants – no one is going to be able to repair all of this.”

The 90,000 square foot convent was built in 1917, Langois says after the RCMP came through – many of the tenants helped with the cleanup.

The vandalism is the subject of a current investigation – anyone with information is asked to call the RCMP or Crime Stoppers.