A six-story-tall statue of Jesus Christ with his arms raised along a highway was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm Monday night and burned to the ground, police said.One thing I enjoy about traveling through other parts of the country are the roadside attractions like this one. There's something distinctly American about that kind of stuff.
The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.
The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m., Monroe police dispatchers said.
The sculpture, 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained early Tuesday.
Looking back through the archives I found an old post I did involving his statue: Is Jesus an Ohio Fan?
UPDATE: Top of the Ticket makes a connection I didn't see coming:
The White House Tuesday announced that President Obama will travel to Ohio on Friday. Specifics of the trip have not been released yet.
In other Ohio news, a 62-foot statue of Jesus exploded Monday night after lightning struck the 6-story-tall structure. "Touchdown Jesus," as Ohio citizens nicknamed it, was completely destroyed.
Outside of geographical location, the two news items are probably not related.
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