I looked around at the jumbled, dust-covered mess that filled the church. The altar had been smashed and lay in pieces, the few pews that remained had been shoved into a heap against one wall, and the carpets that covered the central aisle were filthy and mold-spotted. Murals on the walls and ceilings had been crudely painted over with black paint and the carved wooden statues of saints that had once stood in alcoves had been tossed to the floor and burned where they lay. A sour, damp-charcoal smell hung in the air.