Vines removed from Jesus Christ utility pole for safety reasons

Some vines on a utility pole along Highway 26 in Jeff Davis Parish were said to look like the image of Jesus Christ on the cross. But whether it was a message from above or not - the vines on that utility pole are now gone. Ricky Navarre noticed the vines atop a utility pole in rural Jeff Davis Parish and felt inspired. He said, "That's a group of vines man. That was brought here by him. He might just be telling us something. 'You know. I'm looking over you. I'm going to answer your prayers.'"



Well, Jeff Davis Electric officials saw it more as a safety hazard than a message from above and before it attracted too much more attention, general manager Mike Heinen says they sent crews to cut down the vines. "That is vines on a pole and there's high voltage above those vines and we have a rotation to clear those things and we were getting to that one but since it had such notoriety we went and cleared it up today."

Heinen says it's great for people to find inspiration wherever they see Jesus, but when it comes to vines on an electric pole it could endanger public safety. "For public safety concerns we don't want anybody trying to climb the pole or trying to touch the vines or anything along those lines so for public safety reasons we cleared the line and cleared the pole and cleared the trees and got everything taken care of so nobody gets hurt."



When the tree trimming got underway at least one person stopped to express disappointment. And someone has placed flowers at the base of the pole. Yet Heinen points out, people can look elsewhere for Jesus. "I'm inspired by anything that happens. I see Jesus everywhere, every day. And if you see Jesus, more power to you. That's great. But we need to look at other places too. I'm just worried about the lines." Heinen suggests church might be an even better place to find Jesus. The man who first spotted the vines, Ricky Navarre, did not wish to comment about removal of the vegetation.