John Wega examined the torn bunting flags and overturned benches in the Civil War Chapel with resignation and disbelief.

He tried not to think of the hours he spent stapling the flags to the walls and lugging the 100-pound hemlock benches to the site.

"This goes beyond the damage," he said. "This is somebody wanting to make a statement. That's the scary part."

When chapel-owner Wega arrived at the scene Friday morning -- just after he received a call from borough police that the site had been vandalized -- the pocket-sized Gospel of Johns were strewn in the alley, a wrought-iron lantern was smashed outside, and the collapsible pulpit he built years ago was splintered.

"This isn't just vandalism, this is desecration of a

Pocket-sized Gospels of John were strewn about the Civil War Chapel in Gettysburg and in the alley behind it after vandals struck overnight Thursday. (Evening Sun Photo by Shane Dunlap)
house of worship," he said. "It's a whole 'nother story."

The chapel has been the subject of controversy after Wega was contacted by borough officials who said the structure lacked approval from the zoning and planning departments. Although some form of the chapel has been located at 112 Chambersburg St. for about five years, recent expansions have drawn the attention of the borough.

It may cost Wega as much as $10,000 to bring the chapel into compliance, which he's said he can't afford, and a code officials has said Wega may face criminal penalties if he doesn't take action in about 30 days.

Anne Hufnagle, who lives behind the chapel, said she saw three teenage boys in the alley that runs alongside the chapel at 1 a.m. Friday morning.

"We heard some noise but we didn't think anything of it. We thought it was fireworks in the distance," she said. "Then we saw three young men run through the alley. They were swearing and shouting the F-word."

Hufnagle said she watched the boys leave down the alley and she didn't think much of the incident, until she woke the next morning and found all those trampled copies of the Gospel of John.

"I picked some of 'em up because I couldn't see them like that," she said. "I've lived here 14 months and nothing like this has happened before."

A description of the vandals was unavailable from borough police Friday. Hufnagle said police had already been to the site when she woke and a woman who typically prays in the chapel early in the morning had called them.

"This is a peaceful place," she said. "The kids come out here and sit and play school and I just can't see people doing this sort of thing. It's a shock."

Wega can't believe it either.

He can't believe that this chapel -- which he spent thousands of dollars and years establishing, and which he leaves open to the public all night -- is now torn and broken.

It was just last week that he came by one evening and found former Olympic runner Jim Ryun hosting a prayer session with campers from his running academy at Gettysburg College.

And it was Wednesday, maybe Tuesday he says, when the woman from Dallas, Texas told him about her son, an Iraq War veteran, who lives in Gettysburg and comes to the chapel at night when he can't escape the memories.

"This is more than a building," Wega said. "It's the intangibles and stories that really give it value. And now look what happened to it."

For perhaps the first time since they were hung, Wega has closed the front doors of the chapel -- rather than let the already-arriving weekend tourists see it in such a condition. He hopes to reopen for 10 a.m. services Sunday.

And after he surveyed the damage Friday morning and exited the chapel, he paused to pick up one of the copies of the Gospel of John lying crumbled in the weeds.

Then, gingerly, he placed it on a righted bench and turned to leave.