By
The Associated Press
TUCSON - A Tohono O'odham casino offered a $10,000 reward Wednesday for information leading to arrest of vandals who smashed statues and spray-painted a chapel at historic Mission San Xavier del Bac.
"This is an international treasure. We need to throw up our hands and say, 'That's enough,'" said Ned Norris Jr., director of marketing and public relations for Desert Diamond Casino.
Meanwhile, the Rev. David Gaa was considering possible steps to increase security with the help of the casino and the community.
Gaa said the changes may include having a guard during the night. Currently, security consists of a locked gate to the complex and an alarm system for the main mission building.
About 35 statues known as santos were damaged or destroyed, and the mission's small mortuary chapel was desecrated. Graffiti was sprayed on walls, and many of the plaster statues were smashed.
A maintenance worker discovered the damage early Tuesday.
The mission, which was completed in 1797, is located in the San Xavier District on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. Tribal police said they have no suspects and have made no arrests.
Tohono O'odham Police Chief Lawrence Seligman said he is devoting 10 people, 20 percent of his agency, to the investigation.
"This is a crime against the entire community," he said. "It's a pretty heinous act."
Neither the mission itself nor the historical art inside were damaged. The mortuary chapel, so called because it once was used for preparing the dead for burial, is at one side of the complex. It now is used for individual prayer.
Dozens of artisans worked through much of the past decade in restoring the mission and the art gracing its walls.
