FORUM
WHERE YOU CAN PUT YOUR POINT OF VEIW
THEFT OF LEAD
I can clearly remember a time when church doors were always open. I can clearly remember a time when churches, and other places of worship, were respected. They were sanctuaries from the outside world they were refuges from the turmoil. But now that has all changed, church doors are now kept locked, churches are now regarded as just another place to steal from, just another target for vandalism.
As you all know just a year or so ago, after a spate of forced entries, we had to fit steel grills over some of our windows. We have had to fit special glass in the windows, we have had to protect our church in a way that years back would have been un-thought of.
Now once more thieves have attacked our church, once again we have become the target of sustained theft. Over the course of the last few weeks people have been on the church roof and stripped and stolen most of the lead. The damage they have caused is quite considerable. Somewhere in the region of 30+ roof tiles have been smashed as they climbed across the sloping roof to reach the lead flashings and fascias. What lead they were unable to take they have damaged.
The lead flashings were in place to protect the church from the elements, to stop the ingress of rain. Not only has the lead been stolen and the roof tiles damaged but further damage is a definite possibility if we get any rain before repairs can be completed.
I was in ignorance of the extent of the damage until I went onto the roof with a roofer, it was only then that I was able to see the full extent of the damage. The cost of repair is more £900.
As, over the years most of the lead has been stolen, our only recourse has been to remove he little lead that was left and replace it with a material that has no commercial scrap value, thereby, hopefully, protecting our church from further vandalism.
G.P.
