The thieves were captured on the Florey temple’s CCTV but cannot be identified. Photos: Supplied.
Canberra’s Hindu community is in shock after a masked gang wielding tools and sledgehammers used the cover of Saturday’s Diwali festival celebration at Albert Hall to break into two temples, steal donation boxes and a safe containing thousands of dollars, and smash statues of deities.
The two daylight robberies occurred within a half hour of each other when most of the community was at Albert Hall in Yarralumla, with only a couple of people left at the temples.
Police said that at about 2 pm, four men broke into the Mawson Hindu Temple and stole three donation boxes, and about half an hour later, they broke into the Hindu Temple Cultural Centre in Florey and stole a safe and five donation boxes.
The police said the men drove a black Hyundai Trajet with Victorian licence plates 1EA2AZ to both locations.
The break-ins, which took only about 15 minutes each, were captured on both temples’ CCTV, but the men wore masks and hoodies to hide their identities.
At the Sri Vishnu Shiva Mandir in Mawson, the men broke through the doors and used sledgehammers to free donation boxes that were set in concrete before deities but also smashed the statues and ransacked an office. It is believed about $5000 to $6000 was lost.
The gang desecrated sacred spaces at the Mawson temple.
Spokesperson Krishan Aggarwal said two people left behind at the temple grounds were having lunch elsewhere but were horrified when they returned to find the place in disarray.
He said this was the first time there had been a break-in at the temple, which opened in 1997.
At the Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre of ACT at Florey, the men nearly took the front doors off their hinges to gain entry and then collected five donation boxes to put in the van.
They then lifted a heavy safe into a wheelbarrow from the garden shed to transport it to the van, dropping it once along the way.
The black van used in the robberies.
Temple President Lakhan Sharma said about $6000 was taken after many had made donations for festival time.
“Obviously, these guys knew that because it is a festival month, I’m sure they would have known that there would be money,” he said.
Mr Sharma said that, unlike at Mawson, this was about the sixth or seventh time the temple had been broken into, with losses amounting to about $30,000 over the past two years.
The thieves trashed the Mawson temple office in their search for cash.
He said the community was outraged and the smashing of the statues at Mawson was very disrespectful, but they would still keep celebrating.
“The only comfort we have is that nobody got injured in this,” Mr Sharma said.
“Because we have a resident priest at the temple premises as well, and there were a couple of people who were working in the adjacent hall, they didn’t realise something was happening.
“I wonder what would have happened had these people gone and confronted these people.”
Police are urging anyone with information about these incidents to contact Crime Stoppers.
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