An Oklahoma man is in custody after vandalising the Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma City capitol building.
The suspect, whose name has not been released, urinated on the monument before ramming into it with his car. The District Attorney's office is considering criminal charges pending a mental health evaluation.
The man was detained on Friday after arriving at an Oklahoma City federal building and making disparaging remarks about President Obama. He also admitted to the act of vandalism committed Thursday night.
"He claimed he got out of his car, urinated on the monument, and then ran over it and destroyed it," Secret Service agent David Allison told the Associated Press. "He said Satan told him to do it, and that he was a Satanist."
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin expressed outrage at the crime.
"This monument was built to memorialise the historical significance of the Ten Commandments in guiding our own laws and lives," she told KFOR-TV.
"It is absolutely appalling that someone would vandalise anything at the Oklahoma State Capitol — the People's Building — much less a monument of such significance."
Governor Fallin also said that she will help raise funds to rebuild the statue.
The six-foot-tall monument, erected in 2012, was recently the subject of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. A judge decided last month that the monument does not violate the state's constitution. The ACLU appealed the decision, but did not condone the monument's desecration.
"To see the Ten Commandments desecrated by vandals is highly offensive to [them] as people of faith," ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel said.
The Satanic Temple is committed to erecting a Baphomet statue near the Ten Commandments monument, and stated that their plans will proceed if the monument is rebuilt.
"To be clear, The Satanic Temple will not seek to erect its monument unless the 10 Commandments is restored," Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves said in a statement.
"Oklahoma City has the option to wait until the ACLU's case regarding the legal status of the 10 Commandments is resolved before it permits its replacement. However, if the 10 Commandments is immediately reconstructed, our monument will be ready for unveiling quite soon."
