BENNINGTON, Vt. — Rowdy behavior and complaints from neighbors caused the pastor of a church popular among area youths to declare the grounds off limits for a few days.

The Rev. George Eberly patrolled his church's grounds passing out flyers that shouted in bold lettering "Somebody blew it! … No hanging until Thursday Oct. 23" to youths who frequented the church steps and picnic area, according to the Bennington Banner.

"There's been some behavior recently that should not happen and I want to give them the opportunity to think about other people having to suffer because of that behavior," said Eberly, who runs the Open Door teen program Friday nights from United Methodist Church.

Incidents of crabapples being thrown at cars, profane graffiti being drawn on picnic tables, no smoking signs being taken down, branches broken off trees and smoking on church property led Eberly to declare the grounds off limits.

The Open Door program closed for a month in mid-august amid repeated complaints about overflow crowds of teen and occasional uncivil, rowdy behavior. Around 100 teens attended the club on some nights. After town officials inspected the church and determined it needed a safety upgrade, the club was reopened with a 40-person limit on Sept. 12, the newspaper reported.

After complaints quickly resumed, town officials asked Eberly to contact police to issue a no trespass order. Eberly said he printed the flyers and closed the grounds himself to stress responsible behavior.

"Trespass orders do not say anything about behavior," he said. "This is an issue of controlling behavior."

Only a couple of hours passed before a group of nine youths worked with brooms in hand to clean the picnic table area.

Jesse McCarraher, 17, said he was shocked and dismayed at Eberly's flyer, claiming the local youth population has been getting a bad reputation around town.

"I think it's a shame taking this away. We have nowhere else to hang out. We've tried to clean up the table, but we still get kicked out," said McCarraher.

Eberly said he was pleased the youths came forward so quickly, but would maintain the restriction.

"I have to be consistent," Eberly said.