desecrate

desecrate
des‧e‧crate /ˈdesɪkreɪt/ verb [transitive]to spoil or damage something holy or respected
—desecration /ˌdesɪˈkreɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ damage to cause physical harm to something or someone, or have a bad effect on them: Several buildings were damaged by the earthquake. | The other car wasn’t damaged. | The scandal could damage his career.
   ▪ harm to have a bad effect on something: They use chemicals that will harm the environment. | The oil crisis could harm the economy.
   ▪ spoil to have a bad effect on something and make it less successful, enjoyable, useful etc: We didn’t let the rain spoil our holiday. | Local people say the new buildings will spoil the view.
   ▪ vandalize to deliberately damage buildings, vehicles, or public property: All the public telephones in the area had been vandalized.
   ▪ sabotage /ˈsæbətɑːʒ/ to secretly damage machines or equipment so that they cannot be used, especially in order to harm an enemy: There is evidence that the airplane was sabotaged.
   ▪ tamper with something to deliberately and illegally damage or change a part of something in order to prevent it from working properly: The car’s brakes had been tampered with.
   ▪ desecrate to damage a church or other holy place: The church had been desecrated by vandals.
   ▪ deface /dɪˈfeɪs/ to deliberately spoil the appearance of something by writing on it, spraying paint on it etc: Someone had defaced the statue and painted it bright orange.