Metal thieves who have caused outrage by plundering war memorials have stooped to a new low by using a chainsaw to steal a bronze figure of Christ.It was hacked down from above a grave in a churchyard in a theft branded ‘desecration’ by the parish priest.
And a 2ft solid silver cross was snatched from the altar in a chapel at Manchester Cathedral where it had stood for more than 50 years commemorating the building’s devastation in a wartime bombing raid.
A spate of thefts of bronze plaques from war memorials has led to calls for tougher action against rogue scrap dealers blamed for encouraging the plunder.
Yesterday a thief who stole a plaque from a war memorial before selling it for £15 to buy alcohol was jailed for four months.
The bronze Christ figure was stolen from outside St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Sheringham, Norfolk. It had stood above the grave of the church’s founder, Father Walmsley Carter, since 1939.
Parish priest Father Denys Lloyd said worshippers had been left ‘hurt and shocked’.
‘It’s not just vandalism, it’s desecration,’ he added. ‘For us Catholics it’s a very solemn act to commit.'
'I think it’s a very bitter blow because the grave and crucifix are simply an important part of the church and the heritage of the parish.’
The 18in-high figure is thought to have been taken on the night of January 6.
The silver cross was taken from the altar at Manchester Cathedral’s Lady Chapel, apparently by a thief posing as a worshipper.
Standing more than 2ft high, it is likely to have been worth at least £5,000 as scrap, but in reality it is feared the thief will have sold it for a fraction of that.
The Very Reverend Rogers Govender, Dean of the Cathedral, said: ‘It’s a great pity – the cross has a very important history attached to it and has been a much-loved ornament for many, many years. It’s clearly been deliberately targeted. It’s extremely sad.’
Greater Manchester Police are targeting metal thieves with an initiative called Operation Alloy, and Sergeant Christopher Clarke urged scrap dealers to be on the lookout for the cross.
‘The religious significance of this cross cannot be overestimated, and this cruel theft has caused the church a great deal of distress,’ he said.
Yesterday Lana Clitheroe was jailed for four months after admitting taking a bronze war memorial from outside a church in Lewisham, South-east London.
Clitheroe, 42, tried to sell it to a scrap dealer for £100, but he refused and she sold it in the street for £15 to buy beer.
It has never been recovered.
A 46-year-old man was electrocuted while trying to steal copper from an electricity sub-station, an inquest heard.
The body of Gary Lawton, of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, was found at the sub-station in Newcastle-under-Lyme last April with a ladder and a bolt-cutter nearby.
Coroner Ian Smith recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying Lawton had been ‘up to no good’.