The Logan Utah Temple is found on the Logan bench in Cache Valley, Utah. Photo: Intellectual Reserve Inc.
LOGAN, Utah — Logan police arrested a man accused of breaking into a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and vandalizing the facility.
In a probable cause statement, police said they responded to the Logan Utah Temple just before 3:30 Tuesday morning to investigate a reported burglary. They found broken glass from the temple’s east entry doors and windows, as well as damage to paintings and plants, a broken mirror and an axe stuck into a wall. Someone had also set off a fire extinguisher, spraying its residue on floors and furniture before smashing it into a door vent.
According to the probable cause statement, police searched the building but “did not locate anyone in the areas where they had access.”
Later, temple workers called police again when they found a man hiding in a locked room inside the Logan temple. Police say they talked to that man through the door, and he eventually came out willingly.
“He started talking unprovoked and stated that he broke items in the temple,” the probable cause statement alleged.
Police say Peter Ambrose, 34, told them he used a ladder to climb over the fence into the temple grounds. Officers found that ladder next to the fence.
In all, police estimated the damage to the temple to be about $5,000. Ambrose is in jail; police booked him on suspicion of burglary and criminal mischief.
The Logan temple is closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. One of the oldest temples in the church, it was originally dedicated in 1884, then rededicated in 1979.