Updated

Cleveland officials are trying to keep a house where three women were allegedly imprisoned for a decade intact until the trial of their suspected abductor is concluded.

The goal is to thwart vigilantes who want the home burned down so prosecutors can use it as evidence against its owner, Ariel Castro.

Workers boarded the house up over the weekend and began encircling it with a 10-foot fence to keep it safe and thwart intruders.

The city faced a similar dilemma as it protected a house on Cleveland's east side until a trial ended for a serial killer who murdered 11 women.

That house where killer Anthony Sowell (SOH'-wehl) disposed of many of his victims was torn down in 2011.