Kuala Lumpur:

A Hindu temple was today vandalised in Malaysia’s Penang state by unidentified persons who damaged the deities, a top state official said, less than a week after a similiar incident in the area.

The Sri Dharma Munisverar temple was reported to have been damaged in today’s incident though the extent of the damage was yet to be ascertained, Deputy Chief Minister Dr P Ramasamy said.

This is the second such incident involving a Hindu temple in Butterworth town.

The Munisverar temple is located about one km away from the Muthumariamman Temple in Penanti Estate, Ara Kuda which was reportedly vandalised last Saturday, he said.

A police report was lodged by the temple authorities.

Malaysia’s 28 million population comprises eight per cent ethnic Indians mostly Hindu Tamils.

Last week, two statues of deities were vandalised in Ara Kuda, prompting the temple committee to look into installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras for security purposes.

The attack was believed to be a hate crime as no items were stolen from the temple.

Ramasamy said he had written to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar urging the police to investigate the incident last week.

PTI