Vandals’ Cruelty Stirs Outrage at Huntington Beach Church : Property: Judith Kaye learned of damage to a fountain just hours before a memorial service for her husband. He had donated it two years ago.

On the day a memorial service was held for her husband, Judith Kaye was further heartbroken to learn that vandals had heavily damaged the $10,000 fountain her husband, Don, had donated to the church where people had come to pay their final respects.

The stone fountain in the center of the church courtyard was a gift to St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church almost two years ago in memory of Don Kaye’s late parents.

But when Judith Kaye found out about the vandalism just hours before the memorial service on Thursday, she cried, “His death has already brought this big black cloud over our heads. What else could happen?”

“You would think people would be more respectful of sacred grounds,” she said.

Don Kaye, 55, died Saturday of lung and other health problems. He had donated the stone fountain to the Huntington Beach church when the chapel underwent a multimillion-dollar expansion.

Although the facility has been subject to graffiti and damage caused by skateboarders, upset church members said Thursday that the attack on the fountain was the last straw.

“This is outrageous,” said church secretary Norma Eastman. “This is a place of prayer and there are kids running around and disrespecting our property.”

Police are investigating the case but have no suspects. Church staffers said they believe skateboarders were the culprits because a group of teen-agers was last seen practicing in the parking lot. After the church was expanded two years ago, the new pavement and spacious parking lot has consistently drawn skateboarders to the church grounds.

“At first we didn’t bother with them because it’s better to have the kids here at the church instead of out on the streets,” Eastman said.

But as the activity got more aggressive, the church suffered more damage. Flower beds were trashed and garden sprinklers broken. Used condoms and marijuana cigarette butts were thrown into the back yard. Skateboarders rode on the roofs and banged into walls. Windows were shattered.

The church posted “No Skateboarding” signs, but “I still have to tell hundreds of skateboarders to stay off the premises,” Eastman said.

Church members meeting late Wednesday discovered the broken fountain after a group of skateboarders had been practicing in the parking lot, Eastman said.

The three-tiered fountain, surrounded by rosebushes and a trimmed garden, was custom-made, Judith Kaye said. Don Kaye had the fountain designed after another that stood in the middle of a square in his small hometown of Marshall, Mich.

“That’s where he was born and raised, where his parents died,” said Judith Kaye. “He wanted something of significance to his parents.”

But when the vandals bashed the garden centerpiece, a rounded knob perched at the top of the fountain was knocked off. Two of the three dishes that allow the cascades to glide down the fountain were damaged.

The tiers apparently had been hit with a hard object, perhaps a sledgehammer, police said. Church officials said they are unsure how much it will cost to repair the damage.

“The fountain is just a material thing, but what it represents and the timing that this happened makes the situation so heartbreaking,” Judith Kaye said. “What we wanted was for it to be a source of beauty and serenity for the church, for the neighborhood. . . . But now it’s damaged.”