St Mary’s Church in Heworth Raided

Case information
Incident date
Country
United Kingdom
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Vandalism (all)

St Mary’s Church in Heworth has been once more targeted by thieves and vandals.

This time, a £1,000 computer – donated last year after a previous theft – was snatched from St Mary’s Church in Heworth. The thieves broke through two stained glass windows, leaving £1,300 worth of damage and also taking a printer and software worth nearly £500.
This came just days after a previous act of vandalism caused damage to windows. It also follows on from a long string of recent crimes committed in the grounds of the church. These include an arson attack, vandalism and the theft of £350.
The Reverend Val Shedden, 52, vicar at St Mary’s said: “We feel as if we’re under siege at the minute and people are starting to feel anxious about going to the church. However, all of this is making us more resilient than ever. I wish I knew who it was who was doing all of this. My instinct tells me that it is possibly someone who is desperate because they went to a lot of effort for little reward when they broke in.”

Sources