2 men accused of swiping bronze Book of Mormon from Brigham Young statue

The spirit of this weekend's LDS general conference did not extend to the nearby grave site of Brigham Young, where police say two men jumped a fence and ripped a bronze Book of Mormon from the church leader's hands Sunday.

A witness saw the men kicking and breaking off part of the statue of Young, seated on a bench in the Mormon Pioneer Memorial Monument park at 140 E. First Ave., about 3:45 p.m., said Salt Lake Police Lt. Melody Gray.

Another bystander, Chris DeSantis, 58, was leaving his apartment minutes later to walk to the LDS Conference Center when he saw one of the men hold something out to a woman passing by.

"He said, 'Hey, you want a bronze copy of the Book of Mormon?' " DeSantis said. "At that point, I realized what he had in his hands."

DeSantis said the men were carrying beer and were "obviously intoxicated."

He called police on his cell phone and tailed the pair as they lugged the roughly 30-pound book around the block. DeSantis guided officers until they nabbed the men in a parking lot on South Temple.

Parley Mortensen and Stewart Bodenstab, both 26, were arrested for investigation of vandalism and theft, Gray said.

She said police did not have an estimate of the value of the bronze piece.

— Paul Koepp