A signboard of a BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Greenwood, Indiana (a Hindu temple of Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) was vandalised on Sunday night, August 10. The Indian Consulate General in Chicago requested prompt action from US law enforcement authorities against the miscreants involved.
"Desecration of the main signboard of the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Greenwood, Indiana is reprehensible. The Consulate is in touch with the community and has raised the matter with law enforcement authorities for prompt action," confirmed the Consulate General of India in Chicago in a post on X.
"Today, the Consul General addressed a gathering of devotees and local leadership, including the Mayor of Greenwood, calling for unity & solidarity, and vigilance against miscreants there," wrote further in a tweet.
As per reports, a graffiti with a hate message against the Hindu community was drawn and was later removed after the matter was reported to the Greenwood Police Department in Indiana, according to Marmik Brahmbhatt, a volunteer with BAPS, as reported to Yahoo News.
The Hindu American Foundation shared a video on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) showing the temple premises defaced with slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India.
Around 200 to 250 worshipers visit the temple on every Sunday and is one of only a handful of Hindu places of worship in Indiana. Volunteers describe the offence as a hate crime against the community.
According to the Coalition of Hindus of North America, the Greenwood vandalism marks the third time a Hindu place of worship has been vandalised in the US in 2025. It comes ahead of Krishna Janmashtami, which begins on August 16, 2025.