sacrilege

sacrilege
    n 1: blasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its
         sacred character; "desecration of the Holy Sabbath" [syn:
         {profanation}, {desecration}, {blasphemy}, {sacrilege}]
    

Sacrilege \Sac"ri*lege\, n. [F. sacril[`e]ge, L. sacrilegium,
   from sacrilegus that steals, properly, gathers or picks up,
   sacred things; sacer sacred + legere to gather, pick up. See
   {Sacred}, and {Legend}.]
   The sin or crime of violating or profaning sacred things; the
   alienating to laymen, or to common purposes, what has been
   appropriated or consecrated to religious persons or uses.
   [1913 Webster]

         And the hid treasures in her sacred tomb
         With sacrilege to dig.                   --Spenser.
   [1913 Webster]

         Families raised upon the ruins of churches, and
         enriched with the spoils of sacrilege.   --South.
   [1913 Webster]
    

40 Moby Thesaurus words for "sacrilege":
      abomination, abuse, atrocity, befouling, befoulment,
      blasphemousness, blasphemy, contamination, crime, debasement,
      defilement, desecration, disgrace, dishonoring, disrespect,
      fouling, heresy, ignominy, impiety, impiousness, infamy,
      irreverence, maltreatment, misuse, offense, outrage, perversion,
      pity, profanation, profaneness, profanity, prostitution,
      sacrilegiousness, scandal, secularization, shame, sin,
      terrible thing, violation, vitiation