A 45-year-old labourer from Penal is expected to face a Siparia magistrate on Thursday charged with sacrilege.
The police charged Dave "Takari" Bharat on Wednesday night.
It is alleged that he broke into Lakrani Ganesh Mandir at Gopie Trace, Penal, and damaged a murti (Lord Ganesh), drank milk from a fridge, and ate nuts.
Bharat lives at Gopie Trace, about a quarter-mile from the mandir.
On Friday at around 8 am, a worshipper discovered the mandir had been broken into.
A speaker box mounted on a tripod, worth between $3,000 and $4,000, and a flash drive with religious information were missing.
The woman reported that she had locked all the doors and windows and doors on Wednesday before she left.
The thief had pried open a door and got into the mandir.
Sgt Boodlal led the investigations, and Hosein laid the charge.
