A woman has been arrested after allegedly bludgeoning her husband with a wooden plaque of Jesus Christ because he refused to convert to the Mormon church.

Laura Fraley, 51, was tasered by New York state police during a confrontation outside her Hartford home on Saturday (15 October), officials said.

Police said they were called to the home on Route 30 after her husband, who has not been named, fled the couple's house in fear when he was allegedly attacked by his wife.

He was said to have suffered cuts and bruises to his face, as well as a broken finger, after being hit up to 10 times with a wooden plaque adorned with a picture of Jesus Christ.

State Police Investigator Kevin Reppenhagen said the the pair had been arguing after the husband refused to convert to the Mormon church. He then provoked her by making a comment about one of her ex-boyfriends, police said.

"She made a comment that she hit him with a plaque of Jesus because she thought he was the devil," Reppenhagen said.

Police say the enraged wife then threatened attending officers with an eight-foot-long tree branch, prompting her to be tasered after she refused to drop the makeshift weapon.

Fraley was charged with second-degree assault, a felony, and misdemeanour counts of criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, resisting arrest and criminal mischief.

She was sent to Washington County Jail without bail, the Glens Falls Post-Star reported.

New York state is home to more than 80,000 of the United States' 6.3m Mormons.

The state is also home to "Mormon Hill", where the church's founder, Joseph Smith, is said to have found the golden plates from which he translated into English and published into the Book of Mormon.