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Police searching for graffiti vandals after local chapel was damaged

Posted at 5:29 AM, Jun 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-12 06:29:56-04

CORPUS CHRISTI – The construction site of the “Corpus Christi Cross” was vandalized this weekend.

Vandals spray painted graffiti on a chapel visible from I-37.

“Jesus said, ‘If I am lifted, I’ll draw them into me,’ so we weren’t expecting to draw them this way where they actually come vandalize the building, but our prayer is that these young men, whoever they are, will get saved,” Pastor Rick Milby said.

Early Monday morning he called police and cleanup crews and investigators were dispatched to the scene in minutes.

Detective Justin Wicks said graffiti is becoming an increasingly common problem within our city, promoting the Corpus Christi Police Department’s Graffiti Task Force.

“Within the last 30 days, we’ve put out five felony warrants for graffiti among the five most active taggers within the city,” Detective Wicks said.

The main objective of the task force is swift action and cleanup to prevent copycat vandals.

“It’s usually a rivalry among one another. They want to outdo what another tagger has done,” Detective Wicks said.

Debra Clark watches the construction on the cross and chapel every morning from her front porch, and said she finds this incident heartbreaking, but not surprising.

“Everybody needs to come together and help one another instead of being hateful and ugly. There is enough of that going on in the world,” Clark said.

Crews painted over the graffiti within minutes. Police have not yet made an arrest, but do have a person of interest. If arrested, this person will face felony charges. 

If you have any information on this case, you’re asked to call Crime Stoppers at (361) 888-TIPS.