SECURITY has been stepped up at the Swindon Hindu Temple as the council tries to find a new home for the town's Hindu community.

After burglars targeted the Cheney Manor building for the sixth time on Wednesday, temple manager Pradeep Bhardwaj called the latest incident a hate crime as the offenders had thrown ornamental deities and decorations to the floor.

He said: "They have taken religious artifiacts, brass lamps and other items. It's very clear to us that this is a hate crime as well as a burglary because they went upstairs, took the ornamental idols and decorative deities, brought them downstairs to the warehouse and thrown them around.

"Why go through all that effort just for desecration? A community being targeted so many times is unacceptable, it reflects very badly on society and poses serious questions.

"We can't have rule of law and peace and security if we can't prevent these attacks from happening. It has hit the community in a big way and cordial inter-faith relations as well. This is an attack on all faiths and the peaceful fabric of society."

Following previous break-ins last year, metal deities were removed from the building last year after the traditional rituals for doing so were carried out. Heavier marble deities remained inside and were not affected by this week's burglary.

Pradeep added: "We have agreed with the council to move remaining deities to a safe storage location which is not a temple but will keep them safe until we find a suitable place to relocate."

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The latest break-in happened on the first day of celebrations for Republic Day of India, marking 75 years of India's independence.

Swindon Borough Council explained how it has tried to keep the place of worship safe while a more suitable and secure area can be located.

Coun Keith Williams said: “It is utterly unacceptable that the former Hindu Temple has been broken into for the sixth time and our hearts go out to the Hindu community. To desecrate a place of worship is contemptible and it is fortunate the deities were not damaged.

"We have been working with the temple to move all the temple’s deities to a safe place and most are now safely located elsewhere.

"The council has again put in place twice daily security visits, in addition to the police continuing camera surveillance, and have given permission for the Hindu Temple Trust to relocate their remaining possessions to an alternative location with immediate effect."

The group which manages the building is no longer able to host religious or community events in the Darby Close structure as the council's lease for it ended earlier than expected.

The borough council ended the lease with immediate effect in October following the fifth break-in which, like the latest sixth incident, saw copper wiring being stolen.

It is said that the level of damage caused by the burglaries left the facility unfit for occupation.

Coun Williams added: "While we appreciate that the lease ended early for health and safety reasons, the original lease would have ended just over a week ago, so the remaining idols would need to have been removed to a safe place by now anyway.

"We will continue to work with the community and the police to find the perpetrators of this heinous crime.”