By Joe Winter
Catholic Herald correspondent
Vandals paint slogans on Hudson churches
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Pat Kinney goes to great lengths to paint over a piece of graffiti on a wall of St. Patrick's Church in Hudson. Vandals defaced the church the weekend of Aug. 30-31. (Photo by Joe Winter) |
HUDSON --Vandals have spray painted a series of slogans on buildings in St. Croix County, including St. Patrick Church and First Presbyterian Church in Hudson.
The vandals at St. Patrick went to great lengths, climbing walls that criss-cross, in order to leave one message about 30 feet up a wall on the west side. The vandals struck the church and other places in Hudson the weekend of Aug. 30-31.
Parishioner Pat Kinney needed to use a cherry picker-type machine to get enough reach to use an abrasive material to remove the word "Slayer," the name of a hardcore heavy metal band. Even after the treatment, the outline of the word continues to be visible.
The vandals painted other phrases including "90210," a Beverly Hills Zip code that became the name of a television program with a teen audience, "Hail Satan" and "Welcome to Hell."
An 18-year-old and 16-year-old from the Baldwin area have been interviewed in connection with crimes that are similar but not necessarily related, said Dennis Hillstead, St. Croix County sheriff.
On Aug. 27 and shortly afterward, the pair broke a window at Faith Baptist Church in Baldwin and spray-painted exactly the same phrases as the ones in Hudson on Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Baldwin, the Rush River Town Hall and the middle school in Woodville.
The adult is expected to be charged and the juvenile has been turned over to authorities, Hillstead said. They were interviewed by Baldwin police on Sept. 11.
Police are still investigating the incidents in Hudson, but they don't believe they are related to gang activity.
Also hit in Hudson the same weekend were the St. Croix Valley YMCA, causing an estimated $1,500 in damage, and on Sept. 5 the City Market grocery store. The words "Trump Plaza," "666," "Shrek" and "90210" were spray-painted on the freight garage door.
Anyone with information can call the Hudson Police Department at 386-4771, or the St. Croix County CrimeStoppers at (800) 303-8477 for an anonymous tip.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2002