Salt Lake City, USA - A judge has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the removal of property from land owned by the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints along the Utah-Arizona border.
A grain elevator, manufacturing building, potato cellar, irrigation pivots and other items reportedly have vanished from the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.
Judge Denise Lindberg signed the order Wednesday, saying she hoped it would "halt what appears to be a very deliberate effort to harm the assets of the trust."
The order was sought by special fiduciary Bruce R. Wisan, and the judge instructed him to attempt to retrieve the items and hold those responsible for their removal liable. She also told him to seek an investigation of the Colorado City Police Department's failure to stop the property pilfering.
Lindberg also asked that the Arizona Attorney General's investigate whether officers failed to perform their duties.
The injunction prohibits removal of any property belonging to the church's financial arm, the United Effort Plan Trust. The trust holds nearly all of the land in the two communities. It was created in 1942 as a charitable mechanism for church members, who willingly turned over their property so all could share in the community's assets.
The trust reportedly has assets worth more than $100 million.
In May, the Utah attorney general's office asked the courts to remove the controlling trustees, including fugitive church leader Warren Jeffs, because they were not using the trust for charitable purposes and had left the assets vulnerable to liquidation through lawsuits filed against the church or its officers.
In recent years, Jeffs and other church leaders purportedly have used trust property to either punish or reward church members for their obedience.
Witnesses testified Wednesday about equipment being pilfered in the middle of the night, farms and buildings being cleaned out or disappearing altogether.
"All of the equipment's gone. They stripped it completely," said Isaac Wyler, a former member of the church.
He said that since the courts took control of the trust, there has been a frenzy of activity to remove property.
Wisan testified that the Colorado City Town Marshal's Office stymied his efforts to stop the grain elevator system from being removed by stalling their response and claiming the property could be removed.
"If I'm to preserve and protect, it's got to stay there," Wisan said. "I have very little, if no confidence in the Colorado City Police Department in their ability to halt the removal of property that could belong to the UEP."
Wisan said the injunction "gives me a little bit more clout" and delivers a stern message to Colorado City police force about his role in preserving and protecting the UEP's assets.
"The people look at this as a hostile government takeover," Wisan said. "Basically, they've ignored the court process. They are not supposed to indicate I even exist."
Jeffs is charged in Arizona with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. The charges relate to the performing of child bride marriages. Jeffs is on the FBI's Most Wanted List.