Angel's wing broken as vandals plague church
By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer Wednesday, January 07, 20091 comment(s) | Default | Large
Phillip Bass says he hasn't seen anything like it in his 46 years.
"Nope. Not until the last couple of years with this, the kids tearing up the parking lot and the vandalism," Bass said.
Damaged, stolen and destroyed property has become the norm, he said. But Bass isn't talking about a business he owns, a school or even a home. The target has been a church, his church.
"We're thinking this might be a kind of gang initiation, gang stuff," he said.
On Saturday, Bass and other members of Wesley Grove United Methodist were at the 125-year-old church. Around 3:30 p.m., someone noticed the meditation garden didn't look quite right.
When they looked closer, the church members realized an angel and one of two benches had been severely damaged. The solid concrete angel had been pushed over, it seemed, and a concrete bench was dropped on it.
One of the angel's wings was broken completely off. It hasn't been found yet.
The incident is only the latest in what has become a string of attacks against the small church of nearly 100 members.
This past summer, Bass said, the church was egged and the front lawn sign was torn down. The second time, it couldn't be found.
Someone shot a window at the church. Cars carve "doughnuts" into the dirt parking lot.
"On December 20, we were having a church supper and these juveniles were skateboarding up there. We asked them to leave," Bass said, indicating the handicapped-accessible ramp and porch. "Well, trying to do the right thing, (a church member) asked them 'Would you like to come to supper and to church tomorrow?' They gave her the Hawaiian peace sign."
That one-finger salutation, also known as "the bird," was given as the juveniles walked off with a football taken from kids at the church, he said.
At the same time the angel was found damaged, paper from fireworks were found on a side porch. There were burn marks in the porch floor, Bass said.
Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams said investigators believe the perpetrator probably lives near to the church at the junction of Wesley Grove and Cordova roads.
"The individuals who crossed the line to vandalize a house of worship, they're very hard individuals," he said.
Several churches in the Orangeburg area in the past two years have had feces thrown on their front doors, usually on a Friday or Saturday night.
In the case of Wesley Grove and the others, Williams said "there's no rhyme or reason" to attacking a house of worship.
"Churches? There's no excuse," he said.
The broken angel was part of a garden dedicated in 2007 in memory of a deceased church member. The church remains optimistic they can replace it one day.
"We're hoping the insurance will cover it," he said.
T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.
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ambulance1 wrote on Jan 7, 2009 8:44 AM:
?????? There are no kids, to my knowledge anywhere close to this area in mention.The problem out here is so many people wanted to move into Edisto school district for their kids, but the majority of them don't have the common sense to raise a child. Proof: Where were they when their children were walking at least 3/4 of a mile away from home to skate on a wheelchair ramp? Move back to where you came from and take your juvenile delinquent kids with you!!! "