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SALT LAKE CITY — Inspectors went out for a closer look at the historic buildings of Temple Square, including the Angel Moroni statue, which lost its trumpet during the earthquake.
The 12-foot 5-inch angel withstood Wednesday’s 5.7-magnitude quake, but his trumpet landed on a ledge of the spire directly below.
Video captured from Chopper 5 showed the statue wobble atop the temple spire when a 4.6-magnitude aftershock jolted the temple spire.
The iconic instrument was recovered Thursday afternoon.
Edgar Thompson said he came downtown to see the Angel Moroni.
“I’m going to go look and see,” he said. “I want to actually see if Moroni lost his trumpet, firsthand. I wanted to see it.”
Thompson was one of several people wanting a closer look of the iconic Angel Moroni without his trumpet.
Ray and Dawna Millgate learned the statue lost its trumpet when they came to Temple Square.
“She heard that he had lost his trumpet, Moroni did, so we came over to see what happened there,” said Ray Millgate.
“I just love the temple,” Dawna Millgate explained. “I love the beauty of it, and I love the sacredness of it.”
It could have been much worse for the 127-year-old temple.
“With an earthquake happening, I thought, ‘Oh, please. Not this building,’” Thompson said.
Thompson was married in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He said he was grateful other damages were minor, with just displacement of some of the temple’s smaller spire stones.
“This building is a masterpiece of architecture,” he said.
The trumpet was recovered by a worker who made his way up a ladder and around the spire to pick up the 70-inch piece. The trumpet suffered a few dings and bends.
The statue was installed in 1892, nearly 128 years ago. Although repaired and regilded a number of times, it has never been removed from on top of the temple — a symbol of faith for many.
“I’m of an age right now that you never know how much longer you have, and I’m hoping, hoping, hoping that I will still be here (after the renovations) so I can see what they have done to the temple,” said Thompson.
Church officials said damages were also present at other facilities, including the humanitarian center, Deseret Management Facility and the Beehive Clothing plant at 3900 West, which sustained structural damage and remain closed.
There were also 12 church meetinghouses with damages, primarily in the Magna area near the epicenter.
