Vandals desecrate south side church
Indiscernable gibberish sprayed on building under construction

Cornelius Slim of Armored Electric works on the electricity at Lighthouse International Ministries Church on Monday morning. The church, which is under construction, was tagged by vandals this weekend. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Phil Stake
Staff writer

GALLUP — Vandals spray-painted an incomplete house of worship Friday on Gallup’s south side.

The Lighthouse International Ministries building, which remains under construction at 2045 Westview St., was vandalized late Friday or early Saturday, according to the construction superintendent, Jerry Stephenson of Tom Burns Construction.

Stephenson said Monday that security patrols the area at night.

“It’s so dark back there that they could probably wait for him to go out of sight,” Stephenson said.

And they must have. The vandals apparently used scaffolds already in place to scale the building and leave indiscernible gibberish high against the south wall.

“It’s very destructive and costly ... initially, you know, I was a little upset, but it’s something you have to deal with. We’ll just fix it and go on,” Bill Overton said.

Overton is one of two ministers at Lighthouse Ministries, which is slated to open in October. Construction began in January.

Local businesses have pledged a reward of $2,000 for information leading to the arrest of the vandals. This is in addition to the up to $1,000 reward being offered by Crimestoppers.

Crimestoppers in Gallup can be reached at (505) 722-6161.

Reporter Phil Stake can be reached at philip.stake@gmail.com, or by calling (505) 863-6811 x223.