Vandals desecrated a crib in Claremorris on the last day of Christmas, decapitating statues of Jesus, St Joseph and a shepherd, the Western People reported.
Its front-page photograph showed the scene, the statues of the baby and the shepherd with their severed heads, and the statue of Mary, knocked over but which "escaped without any damage".
Locals were horrified and disgusted, said the paper, not least because the figures were "an integral part of the history of the town".
The Mayo News said the statue of the baby Jesus was more than 100 years old.
Five statues were damaged, said the paper, which featured a photograph of a local resident standing in front of the crib, holding the head of the baby Jesus.
The crib, the paper reported, was "protected by strong, steel bars, and the vandals would have needed time and effort to carry out the attack".
Canon Martin Gleeson PP told the Western People the incident was "an affront to the beliefs of the people of the parish and region.
"Respect is something that is declining rapidly in society today," he said.
Another clergyman, meanwhile, told the Leinster Express what he believes is a different type of contemporary evil: Popstars the TV programme (and popstars in general).
Tridentine Bishop Martin Pius Kelly condemned the programme and the industry as manipulative and spiritually damaging, the paper reported.
"The pop music scene, and especially the programme Popstars, is nonsense and is a bad omen for young people.
"It is a perfect example of the hypocrisy of the modern world," he said.
It is doubtful then that Bishop Kelly was one of those viewers who the Wicklow People said sympathised with a local girl who came "within tantalising reach of superstardom" in the programme.
Ms Shelly Smith (21), from Newcastle, Co Wicklow, "sobbed in disappointment" when she was eliminated after reaching the last 16 for a place in the group.
The wedding of other pop stars raised questions in several regional papers about the influence of celebrity on the allocation of Garda resources.
Criticisms of the Garda presence at the wedding in Co Meath of Westlife's Bryan McFadden and former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona featured in the Meath Chronicle, the Weekender and the Nationalist.
One man told the Meath Chronicle that, in contrast to the security surrounding the celebrity couple, "if you are an old person living alone, you'll be robbed while you sleep, and the gardaí will say they don't have enough resources to protect you".
The Nationalist's editorial, under the headline "Not the job of the gardaí", said:
"Rural communities in Co Tipperary and elsewhere who feel unprotected and are prey to marauding gangs of criminals can hardly be impressed by these events".
It continued: "These vulnerable communities will gain little comfort from the way the resources of the State can be used to protect pop stars and a celebrity magazine and their exclusive wedding picture deal".
Meanwhile, illegal dumping returned to the news agenda of some local papers this week.
An Taisce, reported the Roscommon Champion, has "pledged to forward to the Department of the Environment the names and telephone numbers of a number of illegal dumpers they claim are making Co Roscommon a 'hot-spot' for the illegal dumping of animal waste, including BSE-infected carcasses".
The conservation body's claims are based on calls to its new waste hotline, the paper said , adding that the names would be passed to the Government "once they are validated".
The lead story in the Argus, meanwhile, said Co Louth has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the developed world, according to statistics from the local North Eastern Health Board (NEHB) Teenage Pregnancy Group.