Bangkok, Thailand ? A 27-year-old mentally disturbed man was beaten to death by enraged onlookers at a world-famous shrine in downtown Bangkok after he destroyed a popular statue of a Hindu deity with a hammer, police said.

Thanakorn Pakdeepol, who police said had a history of mental illness, was killed after he broke into the Erawan Shrine and used a hammer to shatter a four-headed statue of Brahma covered in gold gilt. Thousands of Thais and tourists seek good fortune at the statue every day.

Police Col. Suphisal Pakdinarunaj said two men were arrested in connection with the killing Tuesday morning.

Astrology and fortunetelling still play a major role in Thai life even as the country adopts Western ways and modernizes. Visitors to the shrine usually promised devotion in exchange for a change in their luck.

Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai visited the site after the attack and ordered the statue rebuilt within two months. He said the restored statue would incorporate as many fragments of the original as possible.