Gardaí are examining CCTV footage and appealing for information after a group of raiders set fire to the sacristy of a church.
The
incident occurred at St Maur’s Church in Rush, Co Dublin,
early on Monday morning.
The church was also broken into the night
before when “extensive damage” was done.
Parish priest Fr Kieran Coughlan said the vandalism was “mindless”.
“The
sacristy is completely destroyed. All the vestments we had and much of
the contents are gone. There is a safe in there also but thankfully that
was intact. The biggest upset for people is that the tabernacle
was stolen from the church.”
It was later recovered by gardaí elsewhere
in the town.
“We don’t have an estimate for the cost of the damage
yet but it won’t be an insignificant sum,” he added. “We hope the
insurance will cover it.”
The power and gas remained cut off due
to safety concerns, but Fr Coughlan said he hoped to reopen in time for
weekend Mass.
“We will be looking at aspects of our security in light of
these incidents to see what we can do to improve it.”
A Garda spokesman said there had been no arrests.