An "irate" man disrupted a Catholic church service Sunday in Mineola, then broke two statues on the altar depicting Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, causing $10,000 in damage, Nassau County authorities said.

The man, Aldo Hernandez, 26, of Mineola, was later charged with criminal mischief, Nassau police said in a news release. 

The disturbance occurred in Corpus Christi Church on Garfield Avenue just after 5 p.m. Sunday. The parish website says a Spanish-language Mass is held at that time.

At about 5:02 p.m., Hernandez "entered the church where he became irate and began causing a disturbance," the release said, and then approached the altar and pushed over the statues, breaking them. A felony complaint said Hernandez stood in front of the church yelling as the service was about to begin; when several people told him to leave, he allegedly threw the two statues to the ground.

The police arrived and arrested him. He was arraigned Monday at First District Court in Hempstead, where he was released with electronic monitoring, an order of protection and a mandate for a mental health evaluation, according to Nicole Turso, a spokeswoman for the county district attorney's office. Hernandez was represented by the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, which does not comment to the media. The case is due back in court Wednesday.

Turso said the statues were of Jesus and Mary.

A man who answered the phone at the parish office referred questions to the police. The Diocese of Rockville Centre, which oversees the parish, did not respond to requests for comment.

Since May 2020, there have been at least 383 instances in 43 states and Washington, D.C., of vandalism, arson and other destruction at Catholic churches, according to a tracker on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website. That figure "excludes incidents where circumstances suggest a motive other than hostility toward the Church," the website says.

Hernandez's motive, if any, was not disclosed.

Newsday's Maureen Mullarkey contributed to this story.