BRISTOL – The Bristol Town Selectboard has been asked to demolish the historic “Lord’s Prayer Rock” leading into the village on Vermont 116.

Santo Santoriello, in a recent letter to the Selectboard, claims the tourist attraction is dangerous for pedestrians, bicyclists and traffic.

Santoriello also contends the rock is an illegal billboard and that there were never any town or state permits issued for the site, also known as the “Bristol Rock.”

The Burpee Road resident said he thinks “the only solution seems to be to break up the rock, and move the debris away.”

Santoriello also argued that the rock should be removed due to the separation of church and state.

He wrote in his letter that he is a member of a Christian church, which he did not identify.

No action was taken at the Selectboard meeting last week, although some members noted the Lord’s Prayer was chiseled into the mammoth rock 135 years ago, long before any permit process was required by the state of Vermont or the town of Bristol.

Selectboard Chair Ian Albinson invited fellow board members to review the letter and raise any questions going forward.

Albinson told Vermont News First on Monday that the board had been approached recently by another resident with questions about safety. He said the rock is not an initiative the board has undertaken.

Bristol Police Chief Bruce Nason reported Monday a review of department records since he arrived in 2017 shows no reports of any accidents at the Lord’s Prayer Rock. There have been accidents in other sections of Vermont 116, Nason said.

The site is now part of the Lord’s Prayer Rock Park, which the town of Bristol owns at the east end of the village.

There is a parking lot with a public picnic area and barbecue pits for visitors and the site overlooks the New Haven River. The area is also used by bird-watchers, kayakers and anglers.

The Bristol Historical Society and other historians have enjoyed conducting research through the years on the massive stone and the man behind the creative thought.

The estimated 130-ton rock was turned into a tourist attraction in 1891. That’s when the land owner, a doctor, hired two men to chisel the long version of the Lord’s Prayer (not the abridged Roman Catholic version) into the front slab of the somewhat triangular rock.

The Santoriello letter has created strong opposition and pushback on social media. During a July 13th meeting a local resident, Louise Brynn, had raised questions about possible safety concerns for pedestrians and bicyclists. She offered some suggestions for increasing safety, including moving the Rock away from the road, according to meeting minutes.

Jasmine Rain Robair, who lived in Bristol for part of her life while growing up in Addison County, said this week the historic site should be left alone.

She noted a glacier from the ice age deposited the rock long before the road was created. She said the road was later widened to start encroaching on the rock.

Robair, in a phone interview with Vermont News First, reaffirmed her belief the rock should not be touched. She said the iconic rock should be grandfathered in as a historic site.

“This rock has been there for generations. People have driven past it, grown up with it, taken pictures of it, and known it as part of Bristol’s landscape and history for longer than most of us have been alive. And NOW someone wants it destroyed?!,” she wrote on Facebook.

The Lord’s Prayer Rock was the idea of Dr. Joseph C. Greene of Buffalo, N.Y., who was born in Lincoln and grew up in nearby South Starksboro, records show. He reportedly paid two men $45 each in 1891 to chisel the prayer into the rock. Several chisels were broken during the creation of the prayer, history reports note.

The individual letters carved into the dark rock have been painted white many times through the years to provide a sharp contrast for easier reading.

The prayer rock has been featured in countless newspaper, magazine and television stories and is noted in Wikipedia.

The rock is arguably Bristol’s best known attraction.

The rock is on the edge of Vermont 116, also known as East Street, in a 30 mile per hour zone. There is a large United States flag attached to a utility pole and flies over the road.

The safety concern about the rock has been discussed before, but other steps have been taken, including painting the lower corner nearest the road white for many years to help ensure safety by motorists. Suggestions to cut the rock have been rejected.

Before the billboard ban in Vermont in 1968, signs, including a major sign on U.S. 7 in New Haven Junction directed motorists to the rock.

Through the years multi-colored post cards were sold displaying the Lord’s Prayer rock.

In more recent times, social media commentators often recalled vivid positive memories of the site, especially as children. One Facebook commenter noted the site was the location for a friend’s wedding.

Bristol has one of the top annual Fourth of July celebrations in Vermont and visitors often mention passing by the rock on the way to the two-day celebration.

This year the Lord’s Prayer Rock is included in a write-up by the World Atlas listing Bristol as one of the 10 coolest Vermont towns for a summer vacation.

Santoriello wrote there could be legal steps taken in the future if the Selectboard does not take action.

“If the Town does not act, it is open to litigation, which it probably would not succeed in,” he said in his letter.

Robair said she sees any potential legal fight to demolish the site coming up short. She said the law is on the side of the rock.

“In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that longstanding monuments containing religious messages can have historical and cultural significance in addition to religious significance. Religious content alone does not automatically make a historic monument unconstitutional,” she wrote.

“So disagree with the prayer if you want. Don’t believe in God if you don’t want to. Nobody driving past this rock is being forced to pray, attend church, convert to Christianity, or believe what is written on it,” Robair said.

“But suggesting that a piece of Bristol history that has stood there for generations should literally be BROKEN APART AND REMOVED because it contains the Lord’s Prayer?

That is absolutely jaw-dropping to me,” she wrote.

Albinson, the board chair, told Vermont News First on Monday that several people have submitted letters to the town in the past week saying the rock should be left alone.

Michael D’Avignon wrote there have been over 400 recent comments on Facebook “about protecting and preserving this landmark. Safety is the responsibility of each and every person who drives, walks or bicycles by it. Maybe it should be considered a Historic Landmark,” he said.