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Cross cut down at Santiago Retreat Center in Silverado Canyon, investigators looking for suspect

July 2, 2023

A 14-foot wooden cross at the Santiago Retreat Center was sawed down this week, leaving staff and counselors shocked while Orange County sheriff’s officials try to identify a suspect, authorities said Saturday, July 1.

Staff arriving at the 500-acre Christian retreat center in Silverado Canyon Thursday morning found that the cross, which had recently been dedicated during a retreat the Friday and Saturday before Father’s Day, had been vandalized during the first week of a vacation Bible camp hosting kids from kindergarten through the 8th grade, Mark McElrath, executive director of the center said in a statement Friday.

None of the more than 300 campers served during the first week of the camp were staying on the campus at night, McElrath said.

A 14-foot wooden cross at the Santiago Retreat Center in Silverado Canyon was cut down earlier this week. Orange County sheriff’s officials were investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. (Courtesy of Santiago Retreat Center)

A 14-foot wooden cross at the Santiago Recreation Center was dedicated during a men’s retreat just before Father’s Day. The cross was vandalized this week, officials said. (Courtesy of Santiago Retreat Center)

An Orange County sheriff’s deputy walks near a 14-foot wooden cross that was vandalized at the Santiago Retreat Center in Silverado Canyon earlier this week. (Courtesy of Santiago Retreat Center)

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Officials called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department sometime Thursday afternoon, Sgt. Frank Gonzalez said. Investigators believe the vandalism occurred between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday.

Gonzalez said investigators were still looking into the matter as a possible hate crime, “but we’re still working on leads.”

“It’s still a mystery why an apparently hateful person destroyed the cross using a chain saw,” McElrath said in the statement.

He said the camp has 24-hour security, but it wasn’t known if that included surveillance cameras.

“We will replace the cross, of course,” McElrath said. “Friends of Santiago are already sending donations for a new cross.”

Father Glenn Baaten, chaplain of the Santiago Retreat Center, said he was saddened, “but perhaps not surprised in this day and age,” upon learning of the vandalism.

“We are praying for the soul of this person who cut down our cross,” he said.

Officials have set up a GoFundMe for donations to replace the cross.

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