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(10/5/2006)
More Pro-Life Vandalism in Brookings Display about abortion vandalized a second time
By Bob Ellis Dakota Voice BROOKINGS, SD—For the second time since August, a pro-life display in Brookings, South Dakota has been vandalized. On Aug. 31, the Pius XII Newman Center at South Dakota State University in Brookings was vandalized along with a pro-life display in front of the building. “NO IRAQ WAR” was painted across the brick side of the church in black paint, and a female symbol was painted on a sign on the grass which said, “826 abortions in South Dakota in 2002” and “Over 44 million in the U.S. since Roe vs. Wade.” The sign, along with 826 white crosses, are a display on loan from the South Dakota Right to Life. The display is hosted by various churches across South Dakota and moves from church to church each week, on display from Saturday to Saturday at a given location. This week, the display is at Bible Baptist Church in Brookings, and last night it was vandalized again. Pastor Dan Stertz says someone checked on the display last night about 9:45 pm after Wednesday services to ensure that all the crosses were straight. This morning at about 8:00 am, Lance Catron, a county coordinator for VoteYesForLife.com, was driving by when he noticed the vandalism. This time, no damage was done to the church building. However, the vandal or vandals painted a large black “X” on the sign, broke approximately four of the white crosses into several pieces, and kicked around approximately 100 more of the crosses. Catron said that when he saw the damage, there was an unidentified woman there who was picking up some of the pieces of the broken crosses. Catron said the woman told him she was “pro-choice,” but that she didn’t believe this kind of behavior was right, and it wasn’t the proper way for someone to get their message across. Pastor Stertz said the area is fairly well lit, and sees regular street traffic to and from a nearby residential area, but that there are places where vandals could quickly hide if they saw headlights coming. The sign is valued at approximately $150, according to Stertz, and the value of the broken crosses is unknown. Stertz reported the incident to police and a report was taken, but he said there are no suspects known to him at this time.
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