CLARION, Pennsylvania, April 26, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the midst of Holy Week, a Cemetery of the Innocents Display at a Pennsylvania college was vandalized and desecrated by individuals identifying themselves in red paint as “pro-choice.”
Three hundred and fifty crosses marking the symbolic graves of aborted children were pulled up and then inverted, a well-known anti-Christian symbol, on the campus of Clarion University on Wednesday. Red paint was splattered on crosses and signs, and vandals painted mock bloody footprints of an infant in front of the display.
“Vandalism of pro-life displays on campus is not uncommon, but this incident takes pro-choice vandalism on campus to a whole new level,” said Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director of Students for Life of America, regarding the vandalism. “It is revolting to think that anyone would desecrate a display in this way, most especially with red paint to imitate blood.”
Hawkins called upon Clarion University to “take a strong stand against this disgusting, intolerant, and hate-filled act.”
Last week was Clarion Students for Life’s annual “Life Week.” Each year the group organizes a Cemetery of the Innocents Display in the middle of campus. They have 350 crosses and two signs explaining that each cross represents 10 aborted children, which add up to the 3,500 killed in America daily.
Every year Clarion SFL experiences some sort of vandalism – broken crosses or knocked over crosses – during their Life Week, but this year represents the strongest pushback.
Last October, a similar display of 1,100 crosses at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse was uprooted and the crosses were deposited in piles by vandals.