No cross to bear

WAILUA — It disappeared just as quickly as it came.

Overnight, and all of the sudden.

Except when the 10-foot tall wooden cross went, it went out with a bang — smashed to pieces by someone or something.

“They found that someone had already ‘leveled’ the structure and only remnant pieces lay on the ground,” said Deborah Ward, Department of Lands and Natural Resource spokeswoman.

State crews trekked to the spot on Nounou Forest Reserve’s Kuamoo-Nounou Trail where someone had erected a giant cross before its sudden demise.

Neighbors first reported the structure two weeks ago on Sleeping Giant. It was about eight feet wide, fortified with metal screws, and overlooked neighborhoods around Ahakea Street in the Wailua Homesteads. But it shouldn’t be on state land, some neighbors said.

“It’s just inappropriate,” said Debra Kekaualua, who noticed the cross one morning as she drank coffee having not seen it the evening before. “And I’m Christian, don’t get me wrong.”

The cross was hard to miss, jetting above the bushes on the popular hiking trail above the neighborhoods.

If someone wanted to send a message, they picked a perfect spot from a visibility standpoint.

“It’s just wrong,” said neighbor Brook Redfern. “I think it’s rude to impose your personal beliefs on everyone.”

Other neighbors just wanted to know who put it up about a month before Easter on April 20, and why.

It was up about a week next to a bench on the trail, before DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife crews went to inspect it March 27 and found it smashed.

The crews cleaned up the remains. Ward said it’s the first report on its kind on Kauai’s state land. But the state isn’t trying to track down any leads.

“There is no investigation or follow-up since the cross had already been removed and no one came forward to lay claim to the cross,” Ward wrote in an email.