Salvation Army vandalized

Some Grinches tried to steal Christmas from Odessa’s Salvation Army last night after a break-in, but leaders there said nothing will stop the Christmas spirit.

“It’s devastating this happened,” Sgt. Jay Ward with the Salvation Army said. “But at the same time, we’ve had a great Christmas season.”

James Warden, a custodian at the Salvation Army, made the break-in discovery at about 5:30 this morning.

“I was shocked,” Warden said. “I saw what I thought was sand on the floor (actually damage from the fire extinguisher), but then I saw the graffiti, so that’s when I called the cops.”

The incident is still under investigation.

“Right now we’re actually trying to confirm where entry was made,” said Cpl. Shawn Callender with the Odessa Police Department, but after discovering a crow bar on the inside of the building and crow bar damage, Callender said “one could suspect a crow bar was used,”

Ward believes it was most likely though the building’s east entry.

“All we know right now is that they were in here quite a while last night,” Ward said. “There is thousands of dollars worth of damage, a laptop computer was stolen and over $4,000 stolen from the safe, that was all the bell ringing money from this weekend.”

Some of the damage included what police believe to be “gang graffiti,” crow bar damage to walls and doors, fire and smoke damage in the chapel. A Christmas wreath was ignited but then the vandals put the fire out using a fire extinguisher from the Salvation Army. The fire and extinguisher caused extensive damage.

Ward said he believed since arson was a factor in the sanctuary, a federal investigation could take place as well . OPD officials said more investigation would be needed.

Despite the pre-Christmas grinching that took place Monday night, Ward said today’s Christmas Day luncheon will go on as planned at 11:30 a.m. at the Salvation Army Lodge at 801 E 10th St.

He said the Salvation Army has never closed a single day since they first opened and this isn’t going to keep them from providing for those in the community who are in need.

This year the Salvation Army helped more than 500 Odessa families through the Empty Stocking Fund and the Angel Tree program. The Empty Stocking Fund, a joint project of the Salvation Army and the Odessa American, raised more than $110,000 to help struggling local families have a good Christmas.