Thieves stripped lead from the roof of St Mary's

Jan Galbraith, warden of St Mary's in Woodnesborough, near Sandwich, said rain leaking into the church had damaged the organ.

"There's certainly no carol service in Woodnesborough this year," she said.

The service will instead have to be held at St James The Great church in nearby Staple.

Ms Galbraith said: "We discovered when we had a great torrential downpour that some people had stolen the lead from our beautiful church, and we had a deluge of rain come in.

Keeping thieves going is not one of the things our congregation expects to pay for Jan Galbraith

"Some rain has unfortunately caused damage to the organ which has got water inside.

"We cannot use it until it dries out naturally, and then we shall have to see how much damage is there."

Plastic sheeting, newspapers and buckets are now a temporary feature of the church at St Mary's.

Ms Galbraith said: "Our architect advises us it will cost �55,000 to replace what is missing.

"But we are a small parish and we rely very much on our growing congregation to pay for the needs of the church, but unfortunately keeping thieves going is not one of the things they expect to pay for.