In 2007 one out of every three Anglican churches suffered a vandal attack at some point during the year. Theft, arson and malicious damage is a problem for churches. Claims cost £1.8 million in total, a significant amount for petty crime. The average cost of these claims was around £900. These statistics don’t even take into account the smaller attacks which churches don’t report to their insurer because the damage is minor. It is therefore likely that many more thousands of churches suffer malicious damage every year.
These numbers were provided by David Parkinson who is a senior surveyor at specialist insurer Ecclesiastical. Ecclesiastical was established in 1887 to protect the Anglican church and now protects over 95 per cent of Anglican churches in England and Wales.
Source and further information: http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/vandals/vandals.htm