Columnist Connie Shultz writes: “About 11:15 Monday night, a 65-foot Jesus was struck by lightning and burned to the ground in southern Ohio.

See why I always am bragging about the Buckeye State? Never a dull moment around here.

No human was injured or killed. Thank God.

The giant Jesus, titled the “King of Kings,” was a statue of steel, Styrofoam and fiberglass that rose like a glacier on the grounds of Solid Rock Church in the tiny town of Monroe. If you’ve traveled on Interstate 75 between Dayton and Cincinnati over the past six years, you saw it unless you were sleeping or arguing with someone in the car. It was huge and illuminated and depicted Jesus only from the shoulders up with his hands raised 42 feet apart toward the sky.

This Jesus drew crowds — and coverage. Some saw it as a sign from God. Others condemned it as a graven image. More than a few couldn’t say much of anything because they were rendered speechless at the sight of it.

The statue also was the backdrop for mischievous photographers. One photo on the Web, for example, showed students spelling out Ohio by using Jesus for the “H.” Another showed two women high-fiving Jesus.

The statue earned numerous nicknames, including “Touchdown Jesus” and “Quicksand Jesus,” and inspired a song titled “Big Butter Jesus” after comedian Heywood Banks saw the statue on his way to a gig in Dayton. Banks thought the statue looked like one of those butter sculptures at a county fair. ” Read her commentary in Thursday’s Moultrie Observer.