Crystal Cathedral Seeks Vandal Videotaped Defacing Church

Crystal Cathedral officials Tuesday released a videotape showing a youth marring one of the church’s glass buildings and asked the public’s help in finding the person.

The slightly blurry film, from one of the 23 security cameras on the property, shows a teen-ager dressed in a cap, baggy shirt and shorts and carrying a backpack. The date on the footage was May 5 and the time was 7:43 p.m.

But it was not until about 10 days later that workers saw that 15 of the glass panels on the Cathedral’s Family Life Center had been scratched.

The words appear to spell SOINK or SELNK , and could be the tagger’s “tag,” or signature, police said. The youth might have used a drill bit, which was found nearby, Investigator Elaine Barr said.

Officials said the videotape images are blurred even after enhancement and they cannot tell if the person is male or female.

Church officials have already replaced 11 of the scratched glass panels, each 7 by 4 feet. They belong to the four-story building on the northwest corner of the property. The vandalism caused $7,000 damage, church officials said.