PTC: Five Long Beach men in their late teens and early 20s were arrested early Sunday morning when police suspected they were about to vandalize a synagogue, a police officer said.The men – 19-year-old Noel Ocampo, 21-year-old Joseph Gomez, 19-year-old Clifton Landry, 18-year-old Jonathan Camelot and 19-year-old Jaysen Ridout – were arrested before they were able to vandalize Temple Beth Shalom in the 3600 block of Elm Avenue, said Long Beach Officer Juan Gomez.A spokesperson for the temple could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Officers went to the neighborhood at about 3 a.m. in response to at least one call about a group of males outside the temple, where police allegedly found them with cans of spray paint “and other devices used to vandalize property,” Gomez said. “Due to what they had in their possession and witness statements, officers believed the subjects were going to deface the temple,” he said.

The five were booked on pending charges of attempting to vandalize a place of worship, loitering and prowling on private property, trespassing and conspiracy to commit crime, he said.

It wasn’t clear why the five allegedly conspired to vandalize the temple, he said. The five were to be interviewed

by Long Beach police detectives, and possibly the FBI, to try to determine a motive, he said.

Separately, Long Beach police cars have been checking Jewish synagogues and centers during their regular patrols as a precautionary measure in response to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah guerillas.

Gomez said he did not know when the practice began, but noted that there were no threats to Jewish or other religious centers or places of worship. He said it appeared that Sunday morning’s arrests were not facilitated by officers who were checking up on the temple as part of their regular patrols.