Silverware worth £25,000 stolen from church

Police investigating the theft of valuable silverware from a church have made an appeal for information.

The items include two chalices, a silver communion flagon, a silver paten - or communion plate - and a box of other silver objects were taken from St Margaret of Antioch Church in Barley, Hertfordshire.

North Herts Police said the items were stolen between 15:00 and 16:45 GMT on Saturday.

Rector Rev Mark Bridgen described the theft of the pieces, with a total value of about £25,000, as "a sacrilege".

The theft was discovered by the 94-year-old verger "who was left shocked considering his age and devotion", he said.

The main pieces are the Barley Chalice, which is worth about £15,000 and used on special occasions like Easter, and the James I silver paten, which is worth about £8,000 and used to serve the communion bread.

They date from between 1612 and 1619 and because they belong to the village it was "much more of a corporate sense of loss - that is why it is significant," Rev Bridgen added.

"We are worried it is an irreplaceable loss and we may not get them back."

"Police are looking at a couple of lines of enquiry but it is still early days," he said.

"Rural churches are left unlocked to allow people to come in but increasingly that openness carries with it risk which is beginning to be seen."

PC Andy Hamilton, of the North Herts Response team, said: "I'd like to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious in Barley around the church on Saturday to get in touch.

"If you have any information or have seen the items pictured for sale, please let police know."

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