3 teens sneak into Sengkang temple, ride styrofoam horse, break & dump it in recycling bin

On the morning of Mar. 8 at around 10am, a resident at Block 446B Jalan Kayu found the remains of a horse sculpture on the ground adjacent to a recycling bin.

It was later discovered that the destroyed sculpture belonged to the nearby Leong Nam Temple, and it broke after three mischievous teenagers climbed atop the sculpture during the wee hours to horse around.

Temple manager assumed sculpture had been stowed away

According to Shin Min Daily News, the horse's head ended up in the recycling bin, while the bottom half of the sculpture was placed on the ground.

The manager of the Buddhist temple, located at 70 Sengkang West Avenue, only realised that the horse sculpture had been disposed of when reporters visited to ask about it.

Temple manager Chen Yulian (transliteration) said she assumed her colleagues had stowed the sculpture away when she noticed it was missing in the morning.

Chen also shared that the temple was planning to reuse the sculpture around September this year.

Mischievous teens

After reviewing closed-circuit television footage, it was discovered that the sculpture broke after three mischievous teens sat on it.

The teens were seen entering the temple premises at around 2am on Mar. 7.

One of the teens, clad in a black T-shirt, first climbed onto the sculpture.

The two remaining teens followed suit.

As the teens continued rocking back and forth on the horse, the sculpture, made of styrofoam, eventually gave way under their weight.

They were seen attempting to mend the sculpture, but to no avail.

The entire episode of mischief lasted about a minute and a half, Shin Min wrote.

Chen commented that the temple painstakingly cares for its sculptures, including those from past years.

The temple has since lodged a police report.

Volunteers heartbroken

A 65-year-old temple volunteer, Xu (transliteration), told Shin Min that the horse sculpture was meant to be the temple's mascot in the Year of the Horse.

With the sculpture now destroyed, many volunteers were heartbroken, Xu said.

Another 64-year-old volunteer pointed out that the sculpture was put together with great effort and attention to detail.

He urged parents to properly counsel their children and remind them not to carry out such acts of mischief.

Top image via Shin Min Daily News