Provo police searching for vandals who damaged LDS Church

PROVO, Utah (ABC4) — The Provo Police Department is looking for vandals who damaged a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse earlier this week. The vandals caused what’s estimated to be thousands of dollars in damages.

ABC4 visited the Pleasant View First Ward to hear from church members who have been impacted. They expressed their heartbreak upon seeing the damage.

“Maybe something… somebody in the neighborhood hurt them, or somebody against the Church. I don’t really know,” said Ridge Chambers, a member who attends the meetinghouse.

Outside, there’s a boarded-up window, and inside, a member found a piano flipped upside down, keys broken off a organ, damaged pipes, and sinks left running and flooding the carpet.

Chambers heard what happened on April 29 from his dad, who looks after the building.

“I went outside and noticed that just the window right there at the end of the sacrament room was shattered. And I went over and took a picture of it,” Chambers said.

“I’ve just never seen it happen — like a break in happened to a church before, especially in Provo,” he continued.

Police found other damages in the boiler room, women’s bathroom, nursing area and control boxes in the building.

“That afternoon, we went to a young men’s activity, and the bishop showed us a couple of pictures. And yeah… the piano was flipped over and destroyed, there was paintings that were slashed,” Chamber described.

At this time, there are still no known suspects. Provo police are asking the public to contact officers with any information.