Pubdate: Fri, 19 Sep 2003
Source: Gazette, The (London, CN ON Edu)
Copyright: 2003 The Gazette
Contact:  http://www.gazette.uwo.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2548
Author: Laura Katsirdakis

THIS IS THE CHURCH, THIS IS THE STEEPLE... AND HEMP

It is one of the last places anyone would expect to find a secret stash of 
marijuana plants.

The roof of Gospel Hall in St. Thomas, ON, had a persistent leak. At about 
7 p.m. on Tuesday night, members of the church went up on the roof to fix 
the leak and found a stash of the illegal plants.

"[While checking the leak] we discovered 29 large plastic garbage 
containers in which were smaller pots, each of these containing a mature 
marijuana plant," said Wade Steers, an elder at the Gospel Hall church. The 
police were called soon after, Steers added.

"We have no idea who put the plants up there, it's just a stroke of 
coincidence," Steers said. "It is very ironic, you would never expect to 
find this on a church roof.

"From a holy point of view this is a desecration of a church," he remarked.

"[The plants] were about three feet tall," said Jeff Pallister, community 
resource officer with the St. Thomas police.

"They were hidden from view. They were tucked on the southeast corner of 
the roof behind a sign," Pallister explained.

When asked how long the plants may have been on the roof, Steers noted he 
was on the roof four weeks earlier and saw nothing. "We had a roofer up 
three weeks ago and I'm certain he would have told us if he'd seen 
anything," Steers explained.

"There is a lesson in this for everyone. Any building with a concealed area 
could be at risk," Steers said. "Only a criminal would think to do this."

Steers expressed disgust for the person who hid the marijuana plants on the 
church roof. "It's like disturbing a grave in a cemetery," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth