Contentious W.Va. Jesus Painting Stolen

A portrait of Jesus hangs in the main hallway of Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, W.Va., seen in this Wednesday, June 28, 2006, file photo. The Harrison County Board of Education said Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006, that it will fight civil liberties groups' efforts to remove the portrait, which has been there more than three decades. (AP Photo/Bob Shaw) (Bob Shaw - AP)

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- So much for "Thou shalt not steal." Just before 4 a.m. Thursday, an intruder snatched the contentious painting of Jesus Christ from the halls of Bridgeport High School. The theft came just two days after the Harrison County School Board voted to fight a legal challenge over the portrait.

Schools Superintendent Carl Friebel said the bandit took the painting, but left behind the gilded frame and backing.

"The picture was the only thing stolen, so the deliberate intent was to steal the picture and only the picture," Friebel said.

Three security cameras caught images of the intruder, whose face was obscured. The security tapes have been turned over to police.

A custodian reported the break-in to the principal after discovering a broken window in a lab at the back of the building Thursday morning.

Friebel said the intruder exited the building through an emergency-exit door that allows exit without a key.

"Anytime there's a break-in at a school, it's a high alert, whether it's a portrait of Jesus or anything else," said Mike Queen, a school board member and proponent of keeping the portrait hanging. "It's a very serious offense."

The painting, which depicts Jesus in sepia tones on a large canvas, hung on the wall outside the principal's office and had been at the school for 37 years.

The Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the West Virginia American Civil Liberties Union sued the school board in June, saying the painting, "Head of Christ," sends the message that the school endorses Christianity as its official religion.

"Americans United for Separation of Church and State is very disturbed by the breaking and entry of Bridgeport High School and the theft of the portrait of Jesus," said group spokesman Jeremy Learning.

"The Bridgeport, West Virginia, community is already roiled over this constitutional debate, and the current illegal activity is no way to reach a conclusion in this matter."

On Tuesday, the school board decided to fight to keep the portrait hanging after an outside group, the Christian Freedom Fund, raised more than $150,000, including $6,700 raised by students at the school, to pay the board's legal costs.

Eight national groups with expertise in constitutional law have offered legal help to the Harrison County Board of Education. One of those groups will be selected to lead the defense at trial, which is set for Feb. 26, 2007, before U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley.

Keeley, who will decide the case instead of a jury, said the trial should last no more than two days.