Posted on: Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Tarp thief rips off 'Ewa school

By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

'EWA BEACH — For the students at Messiah Lutheran Church and School, hanging out during lunch under the shaded church lanai was considered one of the perks of attending classes there.

But now that someone made off with the tarp that covered the lanai, it's back into the already crowded classrooms for lunch for the school's 50 students.

Church pastor Patrick Poock said someone stole their 30-foot-by-20-foot gray tarp that shelters seven picnic benches in the church lanai.

Poock said he noticed some of the bungee cords used to tie down the tarp had been tampered with on Thursday evening. When he arrived Saturday morning at the church at 91-679 Fort Weaver Road, the tarp and some support poles were gone.

"We put up a much smaller tarp for shade, but we later noticed some of the pins to hold the support poles together were taken, so we brought it down so no one could take that (tarp) as well," Poock said.

Poock was told it would cost $300 to $500 to replace the larger tarp, and the school did not have the money to replace it with a more permanent cover.

The church had a rash of thefts a couple of years ago, leading to the installation of a motion detector connected to a security alarm system.

"That was for the interior of the building," Poock said. "Now we have to figure out what to do about the outside."

Anyone with information on the theft or can offer assistance to the church or school can call 689-6649.