Thieves blow church safes with explosives to steal treasures worth tens of thousands
A GANG is using explosives to break into church safes to steal parish silver.
The thieves are believed to have broken into four churches so far to take chalices, candlesticks, crucifixes and plates locked away in safe storage.
In one raid, 25 pieces of communion silver, including a 450-year-old Elizabethan chalice worth £30,000, were stolen from a safe in the vestry of Lady St Mary’s church in Wareham, Dorset.
The burglars smashed a lead window to get into the Grade I-listed, 10th-century building and used angle grinders to break open heavy oak doors.
They then drilled a hole in the door of the 3ft-tall safe before placing explosives inside to force it open.
Similar thefts have taken place in two churches in Suffolk and another in Lancashire. Police have confirmed that they are looking into whether the incidents are linked.
Police and the Church of England have warned other churches to be vigilant.
Canon Simon Everett described the raid on Lady St Mary’s as a “very professional crime”.
The gang struck overnight on April 14-15 while he was asleep in the rectory.
They cut the power in case the church had CCTV cameras and then broke into every locked door inside the church before finding the safe in a store room.
Their haul included the 7in-tall Elizabethan chalice and another from the time of Charles II.
Several items belonging to neighbouring churches were being stored at Lady St Mary’s, as they did not have their own safes, and were also taken. There are fears that the items could be melted down.
The thieves also used a lubricant to prevent their fingerprints from being discovered.
Canon Everett said: “They tried drilling out the locks of the safe. When they didn’t have any joy they drilled a hole in the middle of the door and put a small explosive charge below the mechanism.
“I don’t know how much of a noise it would have made. It didn’t blow the door off its hinges – it just blew the locking mechanism. What is really upsetting is that they have desecrated a holy place. A lot of these items were given in memory of loved ones.
“It’s a real violation of a sacred space that’s important to the people of Wareham.”
The church is still waiting on valuations for the stolen items but an expert has indicated that the pieces are worth tens of thousands of pounds.
The Elizabethan chalice, which is engraved with the church’s name, is 7.25 inches tall and dates to 1574. Similar pieces are available for sale online valued at up to £27,000.
A silver chalice made during the reign of Charles II would be worth about £8,000.
Two similar incidents also took place in Suffolk.
Thieves stole a Victorian cross and a lectern from St Mary’s Church in Burstall between April 9-11 and St Michael’s Church in Woolverstone had a number of brass items stolen on April 18 – five candlesticks, two vases, two small organ candelabra and candlestick cups.
In Lancashire, criminals targeted St Mary’s Church in Goosnargh on April 10-11. They drilled out the locks on two safes and stole cash and several silver items “of significant value”. Lancashire police acknowledged the thefts could be linked. A spokesman said: “We are aware that there have been burglaries at churches in other parts of the country and we are linked in with the forces involved.”
They added: “We ask antiques dealers and those attending antiques fairs and auctions to be vigilant with regards to property which might have been stolen in burglaries at churches.”