This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah County sheriff's deputies have arrested three Payson teenagers in connection with a $20,000 vandalism spree at an LDS chapel.
Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said the boys, ages 13 to 14, allegedly broke into the Elk Ridge meetinghouse late Sunday night causing extensive damage.
"Hymn books had been thrown through ceiling tiles in a hallway and small fires had been started in a partitioned classroom. The fires were lit in two different plastic garbage cans using hymn books and other paper," Cannon reported Tuesday.
Candy and other foodstuffs were taken, and three fire extinguishers were emptied throughout the structure.
Cannon said that while one lied about his name and resolutely denied involvement in the vandalism, the two other boys confessed.
The boys were arrested and booked into Slate Canyon Youth Detention Center in Provo on suspicion of felony and misdemeanor counts ranging from burglary, criminal mischief and reckless burning to theft and providing false information to police.
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