Work begins on new 'Touchdown Jesus'

MONROE, Ohio, June 9 (UPI) -- Construction started Wednesday on a 51-foot-tall replacement for the famous "Touchdown Jesus" statue off Interstate 75 in Ohio.

The work on the new statue began at the Solid Rock church in Monroe nearly one year after the original statue, whose outstretched arms earned it its nickname, was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, WXIX-TV, Cincinnati, reported.

Sgt. Tom Bloomberg of the Ohio Highway Patrol said troopers will be on the lookout for people causing traffic delays by pulling over on the interstate to watch construction, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

"We don't foresee any problems," he said.

The church said the replacement statue is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The church is calling the statue "Come Unto Me" and its designers say it was inspired by Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the TV station said.

The statue will have a steel substructure and is designed to minimize the chances that lightning will damage it. It will be finished with an acrylic-based aggregate to resemble limestone.