Viet Buddhist temple vandalized twice in two weeks

A Buddhist temple in Louisville was vandalized two weeks ago. And then it was vandalized again on March 20, when someone defaced a statue and spray painted “Buddha’s in Hell” – with a misspell – on the temple’s sign.

And it wasn’t even the first time (or the first two times) the Chùa Phước Hậu temple on Old Third Street Road was vandalized: It’s the fifth time the property has been vandalized in the last five years, WAVE 3-TV reports here.

In addition to spray painting the sign, the vandals also spray painted the face of the Buddha on one statue and sprayed “Jesus lives” on the walkway.

The first several times it happened, though, the monk in charge advised against doing anything about it.

“He say he don’t feel mad, he don’t get angry,” Vietnamese Translator Minh Van Vo said of Monk Ven. Thich Thanh Quang. “But feel bad for the person who did something.”

But, five is apparently too many times.

“It gets to the point where somebody needs to voice their concerns,” temple member Nina Nguyen told the Courier Journal here.

Apparently, in the past there were instances of statues being toppled, and the members just worked at securing them down and didn’t call the police.

“People who come here, are elderly people. They don’t speak English,” Nguyen said on WAVE 3 TV here. “They come here on the weekend to worship. I feel like they’re really taking advantage of language barrier and doing all this.”

So the members called WAVE 3 TV. It’s the TV station that called the police.

Police said the members should have reported the crimes much sooner.

“That would be the thing to do. Not to report it is not getting the word out. Again this individual or individuals who may have done this may strike again someplace else so the quicker we can get on these types of situations the more likely it is that we can get them and help the community as well,” Louisville Metro PD spokesman Dwight Mitchell said.

Some city residents, after seeing a report of the vandalism on television, arrived with paint remover to clean up as much of the graffiti as possible.

“It’s kind of hurtful, but … we feel very supported,” Nguyen told the Courier Journal. “It’s hurtful, but it’s good that we’re not alone. In this crazy world, there are people who care. There are good people, too.”

Local religious leaders have condemned the vandalism. “First of all, regardless of the religion involved, it’s despicable that anyone would do such a thing,” said Terry Taylor, executive director of the group Interfaith Paths to Peace. “Second, I don’t think this is indicative of what Christianity is about. And finally, I think this act reflects badly on a city that has a national reputation of being a community that is very open and supportive of interfaith efforts.”