A SPATE of lead thefts from church roofs in Warwickshire has prompted a warning from police.
Warwickshire Police are asking all places of worship to be vigilant, review their security and ask people living nearby to report suspicious activity.
Thieves targeted two county churches last month, stealing lead from St Nicholas’ Church in Willoughby, and attempting a similar theft at Our Lady and St Benedict’s Church in Wootton Wawen before an alarm scared them off.
In May, St Botolph’s Church in Newbold was left waterlogged with an estimated £30,000 repair bill when lead was taken from the roof for the second time in as many months, just before two of the worst rainstorms in years.
Thieves left the church vulnerable to two of the worst rainstorms in years by stripping lead from the roof.Similar incidents have been reported near the county border in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
Visit https://tinyurl.com/yal4nlry for advice on improving security at your place of worship. Email [email protected] or [email protected] to arrange a police visit.
Visit www.warwickshire.police.uk or call 101 to report information about the recent thefts, using the following incident numbers:
- Theft in Willoughby on August 20 – incident number 137
- Attempted theft in Wootton Wawen on August 6 – incident number 73
- Theft in Newbold on Avon on May 27 – incident number 259.
