Vandals destroy Stone Mountain Nativity scenes

In Stone Mountain, Baby Jesus has no place to lay his head.

That’s because vandals destroyed the manger and seven other scenes the members of Mount Carmel Christian Church built for their drive-through living Nativity.

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Kimberly Smith / ksmith@ajc.com

Carlos Guerra, a ministerial intern at Mt. Carmel Christian Church, examines the star that usually shines above the manger scene as staff and volunteers spent Thursday working to repair damage done by vandals.

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Kimberly Smith / ksmith@ajc.com

Mark Bebout, a church member and owner of Essential Home Repairs of Stockbridge, GA, works to repair the backdrop for the city of Bethlehem at Mt. Carmel Christian Church.

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“It’s just unbelievable,” said Bob Sutton, the church’s administrator.

“We’ve never had much vandalism here,” he said Thursday morning.

The vandals struck early Wednesday, flattening all eight scenes and backdrops that church members spent weeks building. It was the first year the church had put on the Nativity, which attracted more than 1,000 viewers when it opened last weekend, he said.

The scenes tell the story of Jesus’ life, from the visit by the Angel Gabriel to Jesus’ mother, Mary, to Jesus’ birth and the events surrounding it, such as the visit by the three wise men.

About 120 of the church’s 500 members built scenes or were participating as the actors, Sutton said. Because members donated much of the lumber and materials, the church is out only about $700. But Sutton estimated the damage at more than $2,000.

Carlos Guerra, a church intern who headed up the project said he and other church members were hoping for a break in the weather, so they can rebuild the scenes for the scheduled opening Friday at 6 p.m.

“We hope by 6 o’clock people can see what they saw last week,” Sutton said.

“It’s a real shock that they would do something like that to the manger scene and the wise man scenes and everything,” he said.

The church is at 6015 Old Stone Mountain Rd., in Stone Mountain and its website is www.mountcarmelcc.org