SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 22, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A woman was booked into the Salt Lake County jail Friday after she allegedly vandalized a tapa cloth on exhibit at the Church History Museum of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Danielle Manu Kanuch, 27, “was arrested for destroying a tapa cloth in the LDS Church History Museum located at 45 N. West Temple,” says an affidavit filed by an officer of the Salt Lake City Police Department.
“LDS Church security had camera footage of an individual matching (Kanuch’s) description walking into the exhibit on 12/17/2024 at approximately 1847 hours and pouring an ink-like liquid onto the cloth.”
Tapa cloth is made on several islands of the Pacific Ocean. Fabricated from the inner portion of tree bark, it is pounded, soaked, and dried in sheets. One ready, it can be decorated with designs.
“Museum staff estimated value of the cloth to be $10,000, and estimated tens of thousands of dollars in staff time to remediate the damage.”
Kanuch “was located today outside of 131 E. 700 S. and identified from the camera footage,” the arrest document says, and she “was still wearing the shirt and jacket from what she was wearing in the camera footage.”
Kanuch was arrested for investigation of criminal mischief involving more than $5,000 worth of damage, classified by police as a second-degree felony. A judge set her bail at $10,000. She is no longer listed among current inmates at the Salt Lake County Jail.
The current exhibit at the LDS Church History Museum, called “Work and Wonder,” features artwork created by LDS Church members.
Among the works is a decorative tapa cloth, “created by Relief Society sisters in the Va Va’u District of Tonga and represents their embrace of Latter-day Saint beliefs and symbols,” the show description says.
“The women made this tapa — a traditional Tongan token of honor and respect — based on pictures the American mission president had of these sites. A 17-year-old Tongan member accompanied the mission president to Salt Lake City, where the cloth was presented to the Church as an expression of the Saints’ love and identification with their chosen faith.”
Gephardt Daily has requested LDS Church to confirm whether this tapa was the museum piece that was damaged. This article will be updated when a response is provided.
