 The belltower was a target due to its easily seen Cyrillic inscriptions.Roman Catholics in the city argued that the church which was originally Roman Catholic, confiscated and given to Ukrainians by Austrian authorities, was rightfully returned to the Poles.In 1996, against the orders of the conservator general of historical monuments in Poland, Prof. Andrzej Tomaszewski, the Carmelites destroyed the Habsburg-era dome of the church, claiming that it disrupted Przemysl's "Polish" skyline, an act which sparked protests amongst Ukrainians in Przemyśl.