Vandals break nose of Buddha statue in Sugar House

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SALT LAKE CITY — A Sugar House resident has plans to replace a 300-pound Buddha statue after it was vandalized this week.

Benjamin Dieterle noticed on Wednesday that someone had thrown a large rock at the terracotta Buddha statue in his front yard. The statue’s nose had been broken off, leaving a large hole in the middle of its face.

The vandalism came just six weeks after the statue was dedicated by a local zen master, Dieterle said.

“I expected eventually it would get tagged with spray paint, but I didn’t expect that someone would take such a violent attack to it,” Dieterle said. “Particularly in Sugar House, where it’s a very diverse neighborhood, and neighbors and walkers-by and so forth have all really enjoyed having another piece of beautiful art out there to enjoy.”

Dieterle has hired local sculptor Eric Wilson. He will either repair the current statue or take a mold of the entire statue and create a new Buddha head out of bronze or fiberglass, Dieterle said.

He expects that the cost to replace the head will be $3,000 to $8,000. Dieterle has set up a GoFundMe page to help offset those costs.

Dieterle has had the statue for eight years and kept it in his backyard for years. Last year, he decided it was time to make the statue available to others, as a “symbol of meditation and contemplation,” he said.

He created a wooden shrine to house the statue and moved it to the front yard in December.

“It’s designed to be there for someone if they want to take a moment, stop, reflect, or just take a look at it,” Dieterle said.

He said he had not reported the vandalism incident to police because of the lack of evidence.

Dieterle was grateful for the support from the community on the GoFundMe page, which had raised more than $1,000 as of Thursday afternoon. People have been stopping by the statue to leave flowers and other small tributes to the Buddha.

“After six weeks after that dedication, having it vandalized in such a vicious way was really disappointing,” Dieterle said.

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