A first-edition Book of Mormon, which could be valued at $100,000 or more has been reported stolen from an Arizona bookstore.  The bookstore owner, Helen Schiele, 88, bought the book in the late 1960s from a man who was desperate for money and has since safeguarded the book with utmost care. But this past weekend, the book disappeared from her store. 

Over the years, her bookstore has become popular amongst Mormons who came to see the rare book.  The founder of the Mormon faith, Joseph Smith is said to have translated the text from gold plates he found.  Only 5,000 copies of the book have been published. 

Schiele has been in the limelight in the past for a controversial decision she made in 2005 to sell pages from the book for $2,500 to $4000.  She has since sold about 40 of the pages of the 588-page book.  Some Mormons thought it was disrespectful to tear pages from the book.