Church Faces Big Bill to Erase Vandalism

Three sides of an Encinitas church remain defaced with red paint, and an employee of a company that had been retained to do work at the church has been arrested in connection with the vandalism, a sheriff’s investigator said.

Detective Floyd Feese said William Damery, 19, of Spring Valley was arrested Thursday after a footprint found in the paint was determined to match his. Damery was booked into the County Jail in Vista on suspicion of felony vandalism exceeding $5,000. He was released on bail that night, Feese said.

About 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17, Gus Pappas, president of the parish council, discovered the paint on the outside walls and on the concrete path around the incompleted St. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church.

“It was a shock,” said the Rev. Theodore Phillips. “It brought us much sadness to see something beautiful defaced, to see the house of God desecrated.”

Repairs will probably begin next week at a cost of $25,000, and, because the paint cannot be washed off, the stucco has to be reapplied, Pappas said.

Feese said he did not know whether the vandalism was an act of revenge or a crime of hate.

There was a dispute concerning the amount of money the church agreed to pay the company for which Damery worked, Feese said. Feese said that W. E. Walters, a Lemon Grove painting contractor, estimated that it would take three to five days to apply water sealant to the church, and that church leaders agreed to pay $13,000. But, because the job took only a day and a half, the church council wanted to pay only $11,000.

However, Pappas called it a “typical contract dispute” that was resolved. He declined to comment further. He said he only mentioned the disagreement to the detective because he asked.

“It came up because I knew that whoever did the vandalizing had to be someone who knew about paint and who had access to paint,” Pappas said.

Feese said that whoever vandalized the church used a power-sprayer during a heavy rainfall between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Feb. 17, when visibility was minimal.

Situated just east of Interstate 5 on Manchester Avenue, the church’s golden dome displays an unplanned image of a shining cross to passing motorists.

Physicists have been asked to study the appearance, Pappas said, adding that they suspect it is caused by the sunlight reflecting off the curvature of the dome.