The El Paso Times reports that people have been vandalizing the star on the mountain.
For 80 years, the Star on the Mountain has been a shining source of pride for El Pasoans.
But lately, it’s not being treated with the respect it deserves.
The El Paso Chamber said in a Facebook post Tuesday that there has been an uptick in vandalism, including broken bulbs and broken bottles.
“We are asking our community to please refrain from breaking and removing the star’s bulbs. For many decades, the star has been a symbol for El Paso, something we can count on looking up at every night,” the post said.
Curiously, the latest news story doesn’t mention a salient fact, from a previous story in the Times:
El Paso’s iconic Star on the Mountain is glowing blue in honor of El Paso’s law enforcement for the entire month of November.
I’m thinking the vandals are all wearing Guy Fawkes masks.
Yea, I wondered about that too. Could the Chamber of Commerce be massaging an ulterior narrative? Or is their ¨story¨ a few weeks or months old, but they decided to post now? Good grief!!
Indeed.
I can’t see the star from my side of the mountain, but presumably if there is current damage it will be visible! Would only take a short time for a reporter to drive along that side and see what it looks like.
I took that picture last night, and I drove up closer, on Murchison, and I didn’t see a lot of bulbs out.
What we got from the Times, God bless them, is a recycled Facebook post from the Chamber of Commerce.
I reckon they needed the column inches.
Sorry, looks like there were some vandals…EPPD press release
Date: November 19, 2020
Location and time: 1600 Scenic Dr. between 7 pm and 1130 pm.
Offender: 20 –year old Maria Martinez
Offender: 21 –year old Carlos Sanchez
Offender: 19 –year old Isaiah Iturralde
Offender: 22 –year old Nayeli Ontiveros
Offender: 26 –year old Luz Gonzalez
Offender: 35 –year old Esther Banuelos
Six persons were arrested last night for trespassing on grounds near the star on the Franklin Mountain. The area is private property and monitored closely due a recent spate of vandalism to El Paso’s iconic star on the mountain. All six persons were booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility for Criminal Trespass. Ontiveros was also charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance. All were released this morning on personal recognizance bonds, and their mug shots are not available.
Ooops should have said trespassers…what this means is hard to figure out
A couple nights ago a few edge points of the star were white instead of blue. I assume that was the vandalism. It wasn’t very impressive vandalism.