Neighbors wonder who moved signs

Marisa O’Neil

An Easter morning mystery has residents around St. Andrew’s Church

wondering if they were the victims of a well-timed prank or an

attempt to silence their dissent.

Nearly 100 residents awoke Sunday morning to find signs declaring

“No” to the church’s expansion had vanished from their yards.

Residents first wondered if someone wanted to hide any controversy on

a busy church-going day. Then, late Monday, church officials declared

it a youthful prank.

“I kind of laughed at it at first,” Cliff Haven resident Jim

Carmack said of discovering his two signs missing. “It’s asinine.

It’s childish. In fact, it could be kids who did it. Then I started

to think it’s really repulsive.” While he wouldn’t blame church

officials “in a million years,” for organizing a mass theft, Carmack

said, the timing had many residents wondering if it wasn’t someone

wanting to save the church from embarrassment.

“It makes sense that they wouldn’t want those signs up on Easter,

when they’ve got lots of people parking in the neighborhood and

walking past them,” said resident Bill Dunlap.

Members of the area’s homeowner’s association contacted church

officials Monday morning to discuss the vanishing signs’, Dunlap

said. They denied any involvement.

“We were absolutely not involved -- had absolutely no

participation or involvement. We feel terrible about the taking of

any property,” Jill Kanzler, a spokeswoman for the church, said early

Monday.

Later in the day Monday, church official Herb Smith said the signs

had turned up behind an apartment on the church’s property Saturday

night. An intern living at the apartments found them and removed them

without telling officials, he said.

“We do think it was a prank,” Smith said. “We don’t know who was

involved. We hope it was a prank and not a malicious act by

somebody.”

But that news still doesn’t sit well with some residents.

“We’re still concerned,” Dunlap said. “It was many signs taken at

one time. It’s an awful big prank.”

The case of the missing signs is the latest snag in an ongoing

debate between the church -- which wants to add 22,000 square feet to

accommodate its growing flock -- and nearby residents, who want their

streets quiet and free from excessive traffic.

Residents opposed to the expansion plan first planted signs

imploring: “Please, no expansion.” Those were recently replaced with

new, more direct ones simply stating: “No expansion.”

“It’s kind of unfortunate,” Dunlap said of the sign incident.

“We’re having a public debate over an important issue for our

neighborhood. We tried to keep it level with no mudslinging or

anything underhanded. This really changes the rules of engagement.”

Church officials are launching their own investigation into the

incident, Kanzler said.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil @latimes.com.