Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has offered RM10,000 to rebuild the three Hindu deities in a 100-year-old temple in Seberang Perai Central which was destroyed by an unidentified person on Wednesday night.

Lim said the money will go towards rebuilding the Muthumariamman temple as the place is a registered site, and is not an illegal temple.

“This temple has been around for about a 100 years, it is not illegal, it was build on its own land,” Lim said when visiting the temple at the Penanti Estate in Arakuda, today.

“Security in this area needs to be upgraded, the temple needs to be locked and guarded,” Lim added.

Lim expressed the Penang government’s concerns that the act is a violation of the community’s sacred place of worship, which should not have happened especially in a multi-racial country.

He condemned the uncivilised act, saying that such violations had happened at a Siamese temple in Permatang Pauh last year.

“We call for calm and peace; we believe such acts were committed by irresponsible elements out to destroy the harmony between the people in the state,” Lim said when visiting the temple site at the Penanti Estate, in Arakuda, today.

“We hope the police will act accordingly against the perpetrators,” he added.

Accompanying Lim at the temple site was Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, who said that the incident did not indicate that a theft or robbery has taken place.

He has written to inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar and state police chief Abdul Ghafar Rajab, urging the duo “not to take it lightly” as there were previous similar incidents in Tasek Gelugor, Penang, and Ipoh, Perak.

In both incidents, the perpetrators were found to be “mentally unstable” when charged with desecrating a place of worship.

He described the incident as a “trend and hate crime” against the Hindus and Indian community.