Thieves spill remains at Maui church

Advertiser Staff

PA'IA, Maui — The Pa'ia Mantokuji Mission once again has been hit by burglars, who stole an offering box and spilled human remains inside its columbarium last week.

In a November break-in, someone took a statue of Buddha from the temple altar. Brian Moto, a mission officer, said the church had installed security devices on other buildings on its seaside property and now will have to do so at its columbarium, which has been in use for decades.

The latest burglary occurred sometime after 6 p.m. April 6. Resident minister Kenji Oyama found the room in disarray at 9 a.m. Thursday. One urn was opened and ashes had spilled out, Moto said. A storage trailer behind the columbarium also was burglarized.

"We suspect the person who opened the urn didn't know what they were looking at and probably thought it had treasure," Moto said.

The thief took a small offering box, several small Buddha statues and a couple of wooden memorial tablets.