SALT LAKE CITY — A Smithfield man accused of breaking into the Logan Utah Temple on the morning of Christmas Eve, allegedly because he was lonely, now faces criminal charges.
Peter Abraham Ambrose, 34, was charged Thursday in 1st District Court with criminal mischief, a second-degree felony, and burglary, a third-degree felony.
Ambrose is accused of breaking into the historic Logan Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just before 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 24 by using an ax to smash the glass on one of the main doors, according to police.
Inside the temple, officers found “an ax smashed through a mirror and stuck into the wall,” multiple paintings damaged or torn off the walls, plants and curtains damaged, and fire extinguisher residue “all over the floor and furniture. The fire extinguisher was found smashed into a vent on a door,” police wrote in a booking affidavit.
Damage was estimated at $5,000.
Officers searched the temple for several hours but did not find Ambrose. About 30 minutes after they left, however, temple employees discovered Ambrose hiding in a locked room. Police returned to the temple and arrested him.
Ambrose was taken to police headquarters to be interviewed. He told detectives he was upset because it was Christmas and he couldn’t see his children, and because he “can’t get any LDS girls to date him,” according to police.
Ambrose was arrested last year for investigation of disorderly conduct at an Instacare clinic, according to court records.
In 2016, Ambrose was convicted of criminal mischief for another incident that happened at the Logan temple. In that case, police say Ambrose was on the temple grounds, outside the building, making threatening statements to others, and also stating that he had nothing to lose.
The Logan Utah Temple was first dedicated on May 17, 1884. It was the second temple the church built after Mormon pioneers settled in the Utah territory.
The temple was open Thursday, according to a church spokesman.