Residents in the New Vrindaban Community in Marshall County, which houses the Palace of Gold, believe they were the target to a hate crime.

“People are ignorant about what religion is and hate it instead of coming to find out what actually is here,” night guard Gerald Yule said.

Residents in this community practice the Hare Krishna religion, and worship a God they call Krishna.

It was during a festival just after 12:30 a.m. on Halloween night when someone drove down a community road, threw some sort of explosive device out the window, and onto the community’s property.

Yule said he along with several hundred community members and tourists were inside the Hare Krishna Temple when he heard a loud boom outside.

Some of the remnants are still left on site where witnesses said the explosive device ignited. A piece of tinfoil was found melted on the cement.

“There were a lot of children out walking around which could easily turn into a tragic incident,” Yule said.

Yule described the device as a Lipton tea bottle with tinfoil and some sort of chemical inside. Three other devices were found in the surrounding area. He said none of those ignited.

“It was some sort of device sure designed to cause damage. We assigned two deputies on the case that are in conference with the prosecuting attorney on possible charges if locate they offenders,” Marshall County Sheriff John Gruzinskas said.

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