Two dozen bullets were shot at the ISKCON Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, USA, over several days last month, causing damage to the building, officials said.
The Utah County Sheriff’s office termed the attacks as ‘acts of vandalism’.
In a statement, the office said: “Over the weekend, our office was made aware of several acts of vandalism directed towards the Krishna Temple that is located off of 8500 South here in Utah County. UCSO Deputies responded to the Temple and recovered various items of evidence, including casings from the rounds fired at the Temple.”
The office further said: “These incidents have been assigned to our Investigations Division and they are currently working on them.”
Images shared on the official Facebook page of the Utah County Sheriff showed several bullet marks on the building.
The President of the temple, Vai Warden, said a large number of people from different communities visit the temple.
“A lot of people from different religions come here. It’s a sanctuary, a community sanctuary,” Warden told Fox 13.
“We’ve gone on well over these last decades with no trouble, and now suddenly, whether it’s religious or politically motivated, we don’t know,” Warden said.
Warden said the temple authority believes the incident was based on ‘hate’.
“We want to find out who did this and prevent this from happening again,” she said.
Fox 13 reported that security videos of the temple showed a car driving up to the temple’s front gate and someone shooting at the building.
Located on a 15-acre campus, the temple was built in 90s.
Indian consulate condemns attack
The Indian Consulate in San Francisco wrote on X: “We strongly condemn the recent firing incident at the ISKCON Sri Sri Radha Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, Utah. The Consulate extends full support to all the devotees and the community and urges the local authorities to take prompt action to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Reacting to the attack, advocacy organisation Coalition of Hindus of North America said: “We ask local police and state authorities to investigate this with utmost urgency. Please note there has been a rash of attacks on Hindu temples in the last two years –in California, Minneapolis, New York, Texas and now Utah. A detailed list can be found here”
