GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Repairs have begun on a cracked cross atop St. Mary’s Cathedral in Grand Island.

The Rev. Richard Piontkowski said workers repairing copper and slate on the cathedral roof this past spring noticed cracks on the back side of the cross. Weather damage is suspected.

The cathedral’s east entrance was roped off to keep people from being injured if the cross were to crash down to the sidewalk below. Iron rods in the cross will be replaced with steel, and then the cross will be returned to its site atop the roof.

Piontkowski hopes the work will be finished and the east entrance reopened by the second week of July.