Another church has fallen victim to vandalism.
The Rose Park North Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1155 North and 1200 West, was vandalized sometime Friday morning, police said.
This is the sixth reported incident of church vandalism in the Salt Lake Valley since the end of May. And some LDS Church members said the Rose Park building has been a common target over the years.
The vandals broke 20 keys on the organ in the chapel, apparently with a baseball bat, and caused damage to the adjacent piano. They also tore a door off of its hinges, broke windows and light fixtures, sprayed a fire extinguisher throughout the chapel and attempted to break into several offices, said Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Fred Louis.
The vandals apparently entered the church through an unlocked window on the second floor, Louis said. They kicked the hinges off one door, put a hole in another door with metal baseball bats they found in a closet and then used keys to gain access to the chapel, Louis said.
Inside the chapel, the vandals caused flood damage by clogging a sink with the water running. They also displayed the number "666" several times on a board used to show hymn numbers.
The vandalism was discovered just after 8 a.m. Friday by a maintenance worker. More than 100 volunteers helped clean up the building before two funerals and a wedding were to be held in the building that day.
Friday's incident was the latest in a recent string of church vandalism.
Another LDS meetinghouse at 1880 E. 9800 South suffered at least $100,000 damage May 25 when vandals smashed windows, doors and walls. Police have not made any arrests in that case but are investigating whether it is linked to a vandalized Sandy business, in which two juveniles were arrested.
Two weeks prior to that incident the Blessed Sacrament Church, 9757 S. 1700 East, suffered minor vandalism in its chapel.
On June 9, several windows were smashed at Zion Lutheran Church ELCA, 1070 Foothill Drive. Church officials believed robbery was the main intent in that incident.
On June 12, arsonists caused at least $300,000 in damage to an LDS meetinghouse near 6400 West and 3500 South. As of Friday afternoon no arrests had been made in that case.
Then, on Monday, two buildings at the St. Ambrose Religion Center, 2315 E. Redondo Ave. (1929 South), were discovered to have been heavily vandalized sometime over the weekend. Damage in that case was estimated at $20,000.
Investigators have not been able to find a link between any of the cases.
Law enforcers say the recent rash of church vandalism goes against the norm. Utah has very few reports of serious church vandalism annually.
Since 1995, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had investigated just four church arsons in Utah prior to the June 12 incident. Only one of those cases went unsolved.
Some investigators said church vandalism is likely a crime of opportunity. In most of the recent incidents, either a door or a window was left open.
"I can't figure out the attraction to vandalizing churches," Louis said. "But it's causing a lot of headaches to people."
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com