NAMPA, Idaho — A Buddhist temple is a place of worship, prayer and a place to find peace. But on Saturday, that peace was shattered when security cameras captured four men breaking into a temple in Nampa.
The thieves kicked in doors and stole cash donations, according to the President of the Temple, Langsy Souvanna.
“We find out later that they also armed,” Souvanna said.
He told KTVB the thieves first targeted the prayer room.
“They found the donation box in there and then broke the donation box and get some cash out," Souvanna said. "After that, they went to this building where the monks live and one of the bedrooms, and we have another donation box in that room.”
While the monks were not at the temple at the time, there were two helpers there, and one of them was in a different room when this happened, Souvanna said.
“He heard a bang, but he thought it was from the neighbor… and after a while, he heard a little bit of noise again, so he came out, then he faced the driver,” Souvanna said. “The other three guys came out of the room... the guy [driver] took the van out and go pick up those guys by the gate.”
The temple doesn't know the exact amount of cash the thieves took, but Souvanna told KTVB it was more than $1000.
“I feel really sad that we have this kind of incident happen over here because we kind of peaceful... we don't have that much cash around here, and then they still come here,” Souvanna said. “We just want to get some help to get some leads… we want to know exactly who they are and why they want to target the Buddhist temple.”
Fortunately, no one was hurt. After this incident, a similar group of men wearing clothes as seen in the security camera video targeted another Buddhist temple in Las Vegas.
Over the years, similar crimes have been reported in other places like California, Texas and Tennessee.
KTVB reached out to the Canyon County Sheriff's Office, and they said it appears the two incidents are “more than likely connected.”
The Canyon County Sheriff’s Office is investigating what happened in Nampa. If you know anything, you're asked to contact them.
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