NAMPA, ID — A Buddhist temple in Nampa was broken into on September 9 by four armed burglars around 1:00 p.m.
A gold Toyota van pulled into the driveway of the Buddhist Temple in Nampa. The temple president, Langsy Souvanna said that is when four men hopped out of the vehicle and proceeded to rob the temple of its donation money.
Souvanna said there were two donation boxes in the worship room and the office.
After prying open the doors, breaking open donation boxes, and trashing the office, they made their way to the worship room and continued to ransack the temple, pocketing any money they came across.
“Probably in the thousands, but we cannot give you the exact amount; a few thousand,” said Souvanna.
Souvanna believes it was a targeted hit. He explained that groups of people would come in and try to distract or divert the monks and try to get into the donation boxes.
Souvanna said, “We just want to know why they target us, for whatever reason we want to know. Maybe we can get rid of this problem.”
The leader also explained that this is a common issue in the Buddhist Temple system.
Idaho News 6 spoke with a Canyon County Sheriff's office representative who said that the four men involved in this incident may also be linked to another robbery of a temple down in Las Vegas. Souvanna shared images with Idaho News 6 that depict the same car and suspects that were seen at the Nampa temple.
"We just come here to our worship; to get together. That's all. We didn't do anything you know? We haven't created any enemies or anything. I don't know why they target us."
The Canyon County Sheriff's Office said the burglary is still under investigation at the moment, but do ask if anyone has any information on the incident to please call (208) 454-7531 as it may be helpful in the investigation.
