A hospital's chapel is often a sanctuary, where families meditate and pray for loved ones, but staff at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo say some people take advantage of the chapel and steal its decorations.

Hospital spokeswoman Janet Frank said a gold cross was discovered missing recently from the chapel, a donation from the Paxman family of Provo. Monroe and Shirley Paxman visited the chapel recently and were told the cross had disappeared several months ago.

Paxman said she can't believe the cross would be taken from the chapel and she is sad it may have been stolen. She says that the crosses are important to the "holy" atmosphere of the room.

"I think it's significant to have it look like something other than a hospital room," she said.

Paxman said she can't believe someone would steal from a chapel, and perhaps one day she and her husband may be able to contribute another cross. The cross was probably taken for its gold, Paxman said, and she doubts it will ever be returned.

"I don't think anyone that would steal something like that from the chapel would ever be motivated to bring it back," she said.

The 12- to 14-inch-tall cross is the most expensive item to be taken from the chapel, but certainly not the first.

Frank said thefts at VRMC's chapel are more frequent than some may think, though not rampant. Wooden crosses are stolen a few times each month and have to be replaced by the hospital's carpentry shop. Items used for mass are locked away and safe from tempted hands, but Frank said a Greg Olsen painting of Jesus Christ was vandalized in the past.

"It's surprising that someone would take something out of a chapel or a church of any kind," she said.

Kimball Anderson, chief operating officer for Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem and Mountain View Hospital in Payson, said security is relatively tight at those hospitals, so stolen items are usually recovered quickly. Some things go missing periodically, but Anderson said he was surprised to hear someone would steal a cross from a chapel.

"I think that's really reprehensible," he said.

Audrey Glasby, MountainStar Healthcare Network spokeswoman, said the chaplain at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City has reported very few thefts from his chapel. While some minor thefts do occur, nothing valuable has been taken in the last 10-15 years, at least.

"He just really feels for their loss," she said. "He just considers it a really great sacrilege."

Stealing from churches happens all around the world, but the biggest problem at St. Mark's is losing prayer books and bibles that people likely take to console themselves.

Shirley Paxman said the Utah Valley hospital and its chapel are important to her family. Her father raised money to build the hospital decades ago, and she began training as a nurse the week the facility opened.

She worked for several years at the hospital and became dedicated to getting space for a chapel for patients' families to meditate. Paxman said doctors told her they wanted a chapel as well to help them with heavy decisions they had to make.

"I've worked in hospitals in four different states, and I've never worked in one that didn't have a chapel," she said.

When space was secured for the chapel, Paxman said those involved made sure to obtain relics, benches and other items that would suit people of all religions. Kneeling benches were placed in the chapel and the Paxmans donated the 12-inch gold cross to be placed on a table.

Frank said the cross was likely taken some time ago, but staff did not notice for a few months because there are several crosses in the chapel. A police report has not been filed in the possible theft, though Frank said police reports are usually filed in major thefts or vandalism.

Although thefts occur occasionally at the chapel, Frank said there have not been so many that hospital staff have become concerned. Should the thefts become more regular, Frank said increased security or more cameras may be a possibility.