Cross at Christian camp in Orange County is found sawed down

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a possible hate crime after staff at a Christian retreat center in Silverado Canyon discovered a 14-foot cross sawed down Thursday morning, according to the department.

Deputies were dispatched to Santiago Retreat Center on Thursday afternoon and concluded that the vandalism occurred between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday, according to Sgt. Mike Woodroof.

Camp staff found the vandalized cross during the first week of Bible camp, which included more than 300 staff and campers from kindergarten through eighth grade, according to a statement from the retreat center. None of the campers was staying overnight at the camp at the time of the incident.

An Orange County sheriff’s deputy walks by the sawed-down cross at the Santiago Retreat Center.

(Santiago Retreat Center)

Mark McElrath, executive director of the retreat center, said the vandalism occurred on the retreat center ranch in Black Star Canyon, about a mile from where main programming took place. The incident did not impact the camp experience and programming will resume next week, after a pause for the Fourth of July, he said.

The cross was constructed and dedicated during a men’s retreat over Father’s Day weekend, using vintage railroad ties repurposed from a demolition project, McElrath said.

The retreat center started a GoFundMe page, aiming to raise $12,000 to go toward rebuilding the cross in early August. Any money that does not go toward the new cross will go toward camp scholarships.

“We’re aware of the fact that the cross is a symbol of many different things for many people, and for us it’s a sign of hope and victory — and for others, obviously it’s a problem,” McElrath said. “So that particular cross, when we rebuild it, we’ll repurpose the one that was sawed up. We’ll reinforce it so this type of vandalism won’t be able to happen again and that will obviously have cameras.”

The camp has 24-hour security, but did not have surveillance cameras where the vandalism took place.

Father Glenn Baaten, chaplain of the retreat center, said in a statement that he was “saddened but perhaps not surprised in this day and age” about the destruction of the cross. He added that staff is “praying for the soul of this person who cut down our cross.”

Woodroof said anyone with information about the incident should call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at (949) 770-6011.