CRESTON, B.C. -- Whether rival leaders of a Fundamentalist Mormon church in nearby Bountiful should have been charged with polygamy has some residents of this town divided.

On Wednesday, police arrested Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44 -- who are locked in a years-long battle for control of the roughly 1,000-member religious group living in the Creston Valley, about 500 km southwest of Calgary -- and charged each man with one count of polygamy.

Both were released after being held for several hours at the Cranbrook detachment and they are scheduled to appear in court next on Jan. 21.

"It's about time that they started sorting this out and it made it to the courts," said Mitch Watt, 39, who has lived in Creston for the past seven years.

"I personally find it an embarrassment to the town, being labelled a polygamist community."

Blackmore, who police say has as many as 20 wives, and Oler, who police say has two wives, have been vying for control of the colony for the past several years after self-appointed prophet Warren Jeffs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints removed Blackmore as sect bishop and installed Oler.

Jeffs is in prison after being convicted of being an accomplice to rape in Utah.

Those living in Bountiful are now split, with roughly half backing each leader.

Buster Mather, 58, who has lived in Creston his entire life, said he isn't bothered by those living in Bountiful and others shouldn't be either.

"I grew up with a lot of them. I've worked with a lot of them," he said.

"They don't do any harm to anybody in this community except to bring in income to stores and whatever.

"They don't bother nobody so just leave them alone -- religion and government has got nothing to do with it."

While she is against the practice of polygamy, Laurie Segi, 45, said people from Bountiful provide a positive contribution to life in the Creston Valley.

"A lot of them are midwives and they're good," she said.

The practice of marrying underage girls to older men is what has most residents upset.

"It's still a legal problem -- we've got people taking advantage of these young women," said Segi.

Originally from Lethbridge, Paul Coleman, 24, has lived in Creston for a year and said there are a lot of similarities between how people from Bountiful are treated to some Hutterite colonies in Alberta.

"You see them come into town and they buy things from the store, but we don't really socialize with them," Coleman said.