CSI Vatican: Scene of Pope Blood Heist Revealed

<p>Police reveal crime scene in remote Italian church.</p>

Image: Broken glass where a reliquary with the blood of the late Pope John Paul II was stolen.

A broken glass of a niche where the reliquary with the blood of the late Pope John Paul II was located is seen next to a painting of the late Pope in the small mountain church of San Pietro della Ienca, near the city of L'Aquila January 28, 2014 .Thieves broke into a small church in the mountains east of Rome over the weekend and stole the reliquary with the blood of the late Pope John Paul II, a custodian said on Monday. Dozens of police with sniffer dogs scoured the remote area for clues to what the Italian Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana called "a sacrilegious theft that was probably commissioned by someone". MAX ROSSI / Reuters

Jan. 28, 2014, 3:26 PM UTC / Updated Jan. 28, 2014, 7:33 PM UTC

Italian police have revealed the crime scene where thieves stole a vial of the late Pope John Paul II's blood.

A reliquary containing the blood had been kept behind glass in the tiny church of San Pietro della Ienca, located in the mountainous Abruzzo region. The glass was smashed and one of the church's windows was also broken in Saturday's raid, which police said might have been commissioned in order to use the blood for satanic rites.

Dozens of police with sniffer dogs have scoured the remote area for clues, Reuters reported.