6-story Jesus statue struck by lighting.

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.

The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.

The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.

The nickname is the same used for a famous mural of the resurrected Jesus that overlooks the Notre Dame football stadium.

The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said.

Estimated damage from the fire was set at $700,000 — $300,000 for the statue and $400,000 for the amphitheater, Fire Capt. Richard Mascarella said Tuesday.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol was at the scene Tuesday to prevent traffic jams and potential accidents from motorists stopping along the highway to take photographs.

The patrol began issuing citations about 4 p.m. Tuesday to motorists for stopping on the side of the highway, dispatcher Adam Brown said. The number of gawkers coupled with construction had slowed I-75 traffic in the area to a crawl, the state Highway Patrol said.

Some people were scooping up pieces of the statue's foam from the nearby pond to take home with them, said church co-pastor Darlene Bishop.

"This meant a lot to a lot of people," she said.

Keith Lewis, of nearby Middletown, arrived at the church around 7 a.m. Tuesday to photograph the remains for his wife. Lewis said he had viewed the statue as both an oddity and an inspiration.

Cassie Browning, a church member from Dayton, said she was driving home when she saw smoke and noticed the statue was missing.

Travelers on I-75 often were startled to come upon the huge statue by the roadside, but many said America needs more symbols like it. So many people stopped at the church campus that church officials had to build a walkway to accommodate them.

Bishop said the statue will be rebuilt.

"It will be back, but this time we are going to try for something fireproof," she said.

The 4,000-member, nondenominational church was founded by Bishop and her husband, former horse trader Lawrence Bishop.

Lawrence Bishop said in 2004 he was trying to help people, not impress them, with the statue. He said his wife proposed the Jesus figure as a beacon of hope and salvation.


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I really am having a hard time making a serious smart ass comment about this...have fun with it guys. "Beacon of hope" HA!HA!HA!

 

And god said, let their be light

 

I was surprised to hear that this burned down...my Dad told me that it was struck by lightning like in the article.

Ah well...I only saw it a few times anyways when I was driving by.

It was a rather interesting statue I'd have to say.



From 700WLW.com

Video of the Fire

 

I never really thought it looked too much like Jesus anyways...

 

Isn't god supposed to send lightning bolts your way if your been bad?
He obviously didn't like it. judging by that pic neither do i.
It doesn't look anything like....well, anything

 

It doesn't look like anything in the picture because the pictur was taken after the fire. (I think)

 

: of course.

He was joking. XD

Before



After

 

That is actually very neat! I like that one compared to Touch-Down Jesus.

They plan on rebuilding it.
I never took a fancy to it...it isn't the best statue I've seen...
I am just wondering if they will hire the same architect to make it this time... :

 

Thor confirmed for god tier.

 

jesus must have pretty mess-up up there for god to stuck down his statue.

 

I would rather have the burnt statue than that ugly thing

 

This confirms my guess on religion...

Everything happens not because god said so, but because of sheer luck...life isn't pre-determined, if anything any thing a "god" done was simply because nature is unpredictable.

Guess Jesus had just alot of luck when he was around, otherwise god wouldn't let that burn.

Much agreed.

 

The Church pissed "God" off so he got their attention by striking down their idol. Which in my opinion with what they spent on building the damn thing it could have went for better things, and now they will rebuild it, I will have a field day if it gets struck down again. Morons.

 

There were two people who went to a service in memorial of the statue to protest against them building another one saying that it was a graven image.

Protesters: Jesus statue a 'graven image'

 

That's what I want to know...
These people are very strange and closed to the public it seems to me.
Especially with their "security".

 

Jesus: And should I be lying to you may lightning come forth and strike me down!

*BAM*

Best I could come up with on such short notice. In all seriousness though, my condolences to the people who have to pay for that.

 

That Jesus statue looked more like Moses imo.