Catholic churchgoers in Argentina claimed to have seen a Virgin Mary statue “cry” tears of blood.

Locals in Los Naranjos, Argentina, say they saw red liquid coming from the statue’s eyes. Tuko, a news site in Kenya, reported on the occurrence Friday, and since then other sites have also reported on the disturbing and puzzling incident.

The statue (shown here at right) was taken to a local church for evaluation and discussion by religious leaders.

The unnamed owner of the statue said the Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream, as the Daily Mail noted. “It was the first time something like this has happened and I was very scared. I thought it was some kind of punishment,” the man said.

Of the weeping Mary event, The Sun noted, “Pictures of the figure — the Virgin Inmaculada Concepcion de Maria — show red liquid flowing from its left eye and down its cloth robes.”

Related: Christians Battling ISIS Honor the Virgin Mary

“The Virgin is asking us to change the way we live now for Lent,” said priest Ricardo Quiroga of the Argentinian church where the event took place.

This is not the first instance in which people have claimed a Virgin Mary statue has “cried” blood. Many others have claimed similar tear-shedding events from statues around the world.

“Many Catholics consider the phenomena to be a miracle,” The Sun reported in 2016 after Catholics in Jalisco, Mexico, claimed to have seen a statue cry blood.

In another instance last May, reports coming out of Floridablanca, Colombia, noted a similar statue event.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

“Every day the neighbors pray in front of the Virgin Mary and yesterday they saw that she had a tear from her left eye,” an unnamed local said, according to the Daily Mail. “People went to look at her closely and confirmed it was true.”

Many locals flocked to the scene to get a glimpse. Colombian resident Ana Cristina Jimenez “felt joyful, sad … everything!” upon seeing the statue’s tear.

Related: VIDEO: Young American Girl Steals Pope’s Hat

“People tend to rally in these situations that become pilgrimages or even business to some,” priest Jorge Eliecer Garcia said of this Colombian statue. “But they also touch the hearts of people in one way or another.”

In the U.S., some Virgin Mary statues have also been “documented” as crying. In 2005, a statue of the Virgin Mary in Sacramento, California, drew tremendous attention after reports of her crying blood; and in another more incident in Fresno, a Mother’s Day gift statue was reported to have shed oily tears.

In Malaysia in 2015, people claimed a Virgin Mary statue not only shed tears — but grew taller.