Looting Devastates 17th-Century Church in Mopila

The historic ruins of a 17th-century church in tiny Mopila, Yaxcabá, have been looted, causing the front walls to collapse. 

Leobardo Cox Tec, a local cultural advocate and photographer, reported the crime. He shared the news on social media with what he referred to as “profound frustration and heartache.”

To locals, the church is a sacred site. Each July 31, a procession carries an image of the Virgin of the Assumption to the Mopila church for an overnight vigil. This custom, believed to be over a century old, began after the statue was miraculously found to have returned to Mopila after being rescued from the fire and moved to Yaxcabá for safekeeping. The community festival includes an overnight vigil, music, a morning mass, and the sharing of sweetened pozole.

According to Tec, in addition to the loss of the church’s facade, more than half of the main staircase was also lost. Thieves targeted the rectangular stones that provided crucial structural support, prying them from the walls and even dismantling stones from the archways leading into the nave.

‘Content Creators’ Identified as Main Suspects

Cox Tec, who says he knows the site “like the palm of his hand” and has been photographing it since he was 13, pointed to a group of “content creators” or influencers who visited the area without local guides as the primary suspects. He confirmed that witnesses are already preparing their official statements for the authorities.

This marks the third heritage theft in the region, following similar cases at Way Kot and the Hacienda San Francisco. “In the previous cases, it was also creators or influencers who stole pieces,” Cox Tec lamented. “This problem isn’t new, but it’s escalating.”

A Centuries-Old Legacy of Neglect

The incident underscores a deeper, long-standing issue: institutional abandonment. For years, residents and activists have been submitting projects to municipal and state governments, with advice from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), to protect and conserve the site since 2013.

“Every year we fight for it, and until now, no one has listened to us,” stated Cox Tec, a leading voice in the fight to preserve Yaxcabá’s heritage. “We tried again just a few months ago, and the response was the same: ‘there’s no budget.'”

This official neglect has left Mopila vulnerable for decades. Locals report that over the years, everything from bells and religious statues that remained at the site until the 1970s and 80s to carved stones and other historical elements like a colonial altarpiece has been exposed to the elements or disappeared.

A Plea to Authorities and the Community

Faced with the scale of the loss, Cox Tec has issued a formal plea for intervention to the INAH’s Yucatán regional center, its restoration section, and Governor Joaquín Jesús Díaz Mena. He also urged the public to remain vigilant. 

“If anyone has information or is approached by someone trying to sell the pieces, please report it,” he said.

Yaxcabá is also well known for the archaeological site of Yaxuná, which lies within its limits, as well as for being featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table, for its extraordinary cuisine.  

Not an Isolated Incident

Looting of Prehispanic and colonial-era structures is commonplace in Yucatán. This is in part the result of shrinking budgets to safeguard cultural heritage, along with the fact that the sheer number of these sites is staggering, with even conservative figures running in the thousands.

Even within Mérida itself, archaeological sites and haciendas have been the target of looters, who often act with complete impunity.

The Mopila church was also damaged during the Caste War (1847-1901). This recent sacking has left a community to mourn the loss of a place that once stood as a testament to the town’s history.