A Christmas tree, a nativity scene, and a half-human, half-goat statue linked to the occult may not seem like displays that normally go together. However, in New Hampshire, all three were briefly on display outside of the state capitol building until vandals destroyed the latter one.

The now-“obliterated” half-goat humanoid statue was unveiled by the Satanic Temple over the weekend as a crowd chanted, “Hail Satan!”

As a black cloth was pulled off the monument, it unveiled a black Baphomet, a half-goat humanoid linked to the occult. In the figure’s right hand is a bouquet of lilacs, and in its left is an apple. The figure is covered by a black robe and a stole featuring the Satanic Temple’s symbol and upside-down crosses. At its feet is a tablet featuring the temple’s Seven Fundamental Tenets. 

A minister of the Satanic Temple’s Vermont and New Hampshire congregation, Orpheus Gaur, said the display is supposed to represent “a quest for knowledge, defiance in the face of arbitrary authority, and our commitment to self-determination.”

A state representative, Ellen Read, was influential in the decision to erect the statue. She told the Concord Monitor she reached out to the Satanic Temple several months ago to ask about the potential for it to set up its monument where the nativity scene and Christmas tree would be. 

“My constituents and I felt that it was very important, in order to keep with the constitutional principle that government should not give preference to one religion, to see equal representation among faiths in front of the State House,” she said in a press release.

Ms. Read did not respond to a request for comment by the Sun by the time of publication. However, she told the Concord Monitor, “I reached out because I did not think it was necessarily good for us as a society to only have a Christian display and only have Christianity represented on Main Street.”

Ms. Read calls herself the longest-serving “openly secular” state representative in America. 

The city of Concord defended the decision to grant a permit for the monument to be erected in a post on Facebook. The city said, “Similar to other holiday displays it has installed around the country, the Satanic Temple received a permit for the monument to be included on Concord’s City Plaza during the month of December.  Not to be confused with the Church of Satan, the stated mission of The Satanic Temple is to ‘encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice and undertake noble pursuits.’”

“The Satanic Temple’s display joins the nativity scene installed by the Grange and the Bill of Rights scene installed by the Freedom from Religion Foundation,” the post continued. “The Satanic Temple has been making requests to install its monuments at holiday displays as part of a show of unity and religious pluralism. Throughout the country, the Satanic Temple has both threatened and brought lawsuits under the First Amendment when excluded.”

The city cited the First Amendment and concerns about possible litigation. It said it had to “choose whether to ban all holiday displays installed by other groups, or otherwise, to allow it.”

Within two days of the statue being unveiled, it was vandalized. The tablet containing the temple’s tenets was knocked over, and parts of it shattered. Meanwhile, the temple said a flag pole that held a black and white flag had been “demolished.”

Ms. Read told the Concord Monitor she hopes that police will investigate the vandalism. She asked, “If the nativity scene had been vandalized, would the police investigate it? If the answer is yes, then I think the police should also investigate this.”

The vandalism did not end with the shattering of the tablet. On Tuesday morning, a local reporter from New Hampshire, Kevin Landrigan, posted on X, “Someone completely destroyed the Satanic Temple occult icon display and it’s been removed from the State House Plaza.”

In another post, he wrote, “This was all that was left of the Satanic Temple display after vandals got ahold of it overnight,” he said, sharing a picture of the statue’s boots with the top half of the figure removed. 

The statue’s presence received mixed reactions online. Another user wrote, “Because there is a nativity and menorah on the city of Concord’s state House park, the Satanists asked for representation. They had to be allowed so naturally, I paid my respects.” The user shared a picture of the statue with a Santa hat atop it. 

The comments on the city’s Facebook page were more favorable, with several users cheering the decision. One user wrote, “Considering how many people have been killed in the name of religion, it’s good to see a list of tenets that are actually quite reasonable and peaceful.”

Another person wrote, “Love all the angry reactions this will get. Like y’all speak of the 1st Amendment but forget to realize this one part of it. Glad to see Baphomet make an appearance.”

There were some negative comments on Facebook, such as one who said the statue was from “the pit of hell.”

The statue of Baphomet has recently made an appearance at another state capitol. In December 2023, a statue of the figure was erected in Iowa’s capitol building. However, a former congressional candidate, Michael Cassidy, took action and destroyed the statue. The Satanic Temple of Iowa said it was “destroyed beyond repair.”

Mr. Cassidy was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, and a month after the incident, he was charged with a felony hate crime. However, in May, he pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal mischief, and prosecutors agreed to drop the hate crime charge.