A SHOCKED church parishioner is offering a £5,000 reward for the return of an ancient brass Bible stand stolen by burglars.
The lectern, believed to weigh about 100kg and worth £30,000, was taken when thieves smashed through the vestry door of St Mary's the Virgin Church in High Easter.
And after the incident – the third theft from a church in mid-Essex in two weeks – parishioner David Kelsey has sent out a stern message.
"You just don't steal from a church and you especially don't steal from High Easter church," said the 49-year-old member of 27 years, whose church also had lead stolen last year.
"I am now taking anything of value out of the church because this is happening more and more. We are having to change our strategy.
"What's happened is absolutely horrible. This lectern has been polished through generations and whether people like it or not it is part of our community and it's part of our faith."
Mr Kelsey, who also owns The Punch Bowl restaurant next door, believes about three burglars were responsible for the raid at about 3am last Thursday.
Police say the vestry's external wooden door was smashed through using multiple crowbars, which may also have been used to dig up the lectern, which is about 200-years-old and situated in the church's nave.
"It's a very symbolic object to us and an important part of the church. We love going to this church and we love everything about it but somebody has to stand up now and be counted.
"We are a strong parish though and hopefully this will make people pull together. It won't affect services and it won't stop our worship in any shape or form," said Mr Kelsey.
Despite discovering the church smothered with mud and broken wood last week, parishioners still gathered for Sunday's service. The congregation and interim preacher Liz Paxton even prayed for the suspects at the service.
"We prayed they would not prosper but that they won't ever put themselves into such a position and mindset again," said Mr Kelsey.
"I would always hope that these people now put their strengths into something more conductive and I hope these people find other ways to make a successful living."
The church, in The Street, which can boast up to 80 in its congregation and hundreds for funerals and weddings, is coined by locals as the 'cathedral of High Easter'.
Before this incident, between May 21 and May 22, a priest's home in Braintree Road, Braintree, was broken into, along with adjoining 'Catholic rooms' but nothing was stolen.
Days later, however, various 18-inch candlesticks and a brass chalice, worth about £600, were stolen from the Church of St James in Great Saling, a village north of Braintree, between May 23 and May 27.
An Essex Police spokesman said the incidents were not being treated as though they are connected.
