By Tom O'Neill
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Principal Ann Boley (left) of St. Michael School in Ripley shows where thieves broke the door to the school's office Tuesday. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

RIPLEY - Residents are starting to take this string of overnight church and school break-ins personally - whether they attend St. Michael's or not.

And the indignation was hardly lessened Tuesday by news from Ripley police that one or two arrests are imminent, possibly as early as today, according to Lt. David Benjamin.

"The motive seems to be money, probably for drugs," he said. "We have two suspects, one juvenile, one adult."

In six weeks, the small parish founded in 1840 has been hit three times. Police aren't sure if the same culprits were involved in all three break-ins.

The latest burglary was discovered Tuesday morning at St. Michael School on Fifth Street.

It not only prompted the K-7 school of 76 students to close Tuesday, but also united residents, Catholic or not.

The school will reopen today.

"I was just over in Aberdeen this morning and they were talking about it in the Dollar Store," said parishioner Jennifer Moffett, 39, whose home overlooks the church.

Ripley, a historic community with deep roots in the abolitionist movement before the Civil War, remains a closely knit one.

Stores have homey names like Ripley Sundries & More, Snapper's Saloon, the Meetin' Place, and the everything-shop that goes by the name Some Old Man at Ripley. It boasts 5,054 ties, which owner Russell Bowles said he's been thinking of making into quilts.

Ripley also has Ohio's only tobacco museum. Many homes ravaged by the flood of 1997 are now on stilts.

Last Thursday overnight, someone broke into the church, desecrating the tabernacle and overturning the rear altar, apparently looking for money that wasn't there.

The Rev. John Fischer, the church's pastor, could not be reached for comment.

Six weeks ago, someone broke into the adjacent school, breaking a window in Principal Ann Boley's office, and stealing $600 that had been earmarked for new uniforms for the basketball and cheerleading teams.

The community donated enough money to cover the expense, an appreciative principal said Tuesday in her office.

Sometime late Monday or early Tuesday, the door to her office was bashed in, after the burglars broke past an air-conditioning window unit in the kindergarten-first grade classroom.

Another window was broken by marbles, probably fired from a slingslot.

"They got $10 in milk money and a digital camera," Ms. Boley said. "But our main concern is the spiritual loss. It's had an effect on the whole community. I feel just like the life has been taken from me."

School janitor Tom Tumbleson, who discovered the break-in Tuesday morning, was angry. "You can't print what I said, and I don't want to repeat it."

E-mail toneill@enquirer.com