An ancient idol of Lord Ganapati was stolen from Sri Sangameshwara temple, belonging to the Hoysala period, at Sindhaghatta, a village in K.R. Pet taluk, in the early hours of Thursday.
A gang broke open the doors of the temple, built about 800 years ago, and took away the idol, the K.R. Pet town police said.
The rare black-stone Ganapati idol weighed around 100 kg and was about two ft tall. The gang also tried to steal Sri Suryanarayana Swamy idol from the temple. However, they caused damage to the idol, the police said.
The police have recovered the damaged idol from the place.
The temple, which is under the protection of the Department of Muzrai, has no security, a senior police official said.
The temple was closed at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday. The incident came to light on Thursday morning, when Nagesh, a local resident, observed that the main door of the temple had been broken. He immediately alerted priest Ramesh and the police.
Forensic experts collected finger prints and other clues from the spot, the police said.
Officials from the departments of police, muzrai and revenue visited the temple.
Sub-inspector of Police H.N. Vinay and others inspected the scene of crime.
