ABIANSEMAL ~ A temple in Darmasabha, Abiansemal, Badung, was robbed of gold-leaf ornamentation worth around Rp1 billion (US$83,000) in the early hours of last Saturday morning, an official said.

Temple priest I Wayan Gelgel, 49, reported the robbery to Abiansemal Police after finding the lock on the temple gate broken and ceremonial masks stripped of their gold decoration.

Gelgel said about 380 grams of gold had been removed from three masks kept in the temple.

“After investigating the location, we calculated the temple had been robbed of around Rp1 billion,” an Abiansemal Police officer said.

The officer said police did not yet have any suspects.