Touchdown Torching

Just off the interstate north of Cincinnati, in Monroe, Ohio, a 62 ft. high sculpture of the man himself, Mr. Jesus Christ, appeared to rise from the ground, his arms and hands reaching up towards the heaven for some divine answer to strike. Well, late on Monday, June 14, it seems as if the heavens finally answered.

A bolt of lightening has completely destroyed what was known as the “King of Kings" statue — also dubbed "Touchdown Jesus," with an estimated $700,000 in damages. "It burned to the ground. The whole statue is gone," said Kim Peace, a local police dispatcher (I like to imagine Mr. Peace being really high on grass when he said this.)

The steel frame structure was the only part left standing after the massive flames consumed the plastic form and fiberglass Christ-resemblance. The flames from the sculpture also jumped to the Solid Rock Church, where it destroyed parts of the amphitheater, but Touchdown Jesus didn’t stop there. Not to be outdone by the Gulf oil crisis, the melted plastics and fiberglass oozed into the surrounding pond, toxifying the water and bringing fish floating to the surface.

This is just not a good time to be aquatic life.

Image, "King of Kings" by Joe Shlabotnik on Flickr courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing