By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Members of the two Levan wards of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints received an unexpected message
when they arrived at church a week ago Sunday.
Two wards meet in the edifice, part of which was
constructed nearly a century ago. In the past decade, during
the building's most recent renovation, the church was
enlarged.
On Sunday, those arriving for early meetings found
vandals had left offensive graffiti on the 97-year-old
building's stairs, sidewalks, and handrails on the southeast
corner.
"It wasn't the type of graffiti that a gang member
would leave," said Juab County Sheriff, David Carter. "It
wasn't as large as a tagger would make and did not have any
gang-related symbols."
That graffiti would appear in such a small town proves
that the problem isn't isolated only to larger cities.
However, the persons who did the writing may have been from
out of town.
"We had several family reunions at the city park
during the time the graffiti was made," said Carter. "It
isn't unusual for people from all over to schedule and
reserve the park."
During the same time period, a three-day period
beginning on Thursday, he said, several windows on some
vacant homes in Levan had been broken by vandals.
He said a description of some juvenile suspects had
been turned into his department. The vandalism was still
under investigation.
Richard Stowell and Lee Walker are the bishops of the
two wards which meet in the church&emdash;Levan 1st and
Levan 2nd wards. By the time members arrived for meetings,
much of the graffiti had been covered.
Leaders had instructed that rugs be taken outside to
cover the most offensive parts of the message until the
graffiti could be removed. That was done early in the
week.
"All the writing was done on the outside of the
building," said Carter. "No one broke into the church and no
damage occurred on the inside of the church."
"This is the first serious occurrence of vandalism
that Levan has had for years," said Carter.
He said he had been reluctant to release the news.
Many of those who get their excitement in life from reading
about their acts of violence in the press are further
encouraged by publicity, he said.
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