A convicted burglar Tuesday pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to 90 days in jail for torching a floral arrangement and potted plants around a Virgin Mary statue at a Garden Grove church.
Hong Van Nguyen, 44, pleaded guilty to felony counts of arson of property and vandalism of religious property.
Nguyen tossed a lit cigarette and another object that he had set afire at the statue outside of St. Anselm’s Episcopal Church just before 1 a.m. Nov. 24.
Nguyen then ran from officers who responded to the arson call, and he later told police he had been “told to do it by God,” according to Garden Grove police Lt. Carl Whitney.
He has a 2018 conviction for burglary in Santa Clara County, according to court records.