State troopers Thursday morning removed marijuana plants and related items from a former funeral home in Apollo.
The building at the corner of South Pennsylvania Avenue and North Second Street is next door to the First Evangelical Lutheran Church and across the street from a former school.
The brown building is across the street and about 30 yards from the Apollo public library, and just around the corner from the New Life Baptist Church.
Neighbors said state troopers arrived and then took items outside to the parking area of the Common Threads Quilt Shop at South Second Street.
The marijuana was in public view for a few minutes outside an apartment and business next door.
The plants, large bags of plant material and a number of gallon plastic bags holding suspected marijuana were placed in the driveway before troopers took them away.
State police at the scene and the owner of the building declined to comment.
Neighbors were surprised.
“I didn’t know anything about it,” said Ron Bash, of South Pennsylvania Avenue.
Terri Baldwin, also of South Pennsylvania Avenue, and Sandra Parnell, of Hildebrand Street, were walking their dogs and stopped to watch.
“I never thought we’d see something like this here,” said Baldwin, who said she is out walking her dog several times a day.
“This is near the library and, during the school year, there are several bus stops for students,” Parnell said. “There are a lot of families with children here.”
