Church Suffers Repeated Thefts and Vandalism
From the beginning of March until the end of June 2018, the alms box of church of Saint-Thomas-de-Cônac was repeatedly broken and emptied by unknown thieves. Despite new measures to prevent further thefts in the alms box, the perpetrators continued to attempt to get the money. In the end, after having installed a safe on the ground, the constant thefts were replaced with acts of vandalism: candles lit and broken on the floor, trash and papers thrown around, holy water spilled, and indecent comments written in the guestbook.
The parish community has begun to consider whether it would be more appropriate to close the church to the public, except for the liturgical celebrations.
Sources: Sud Ouest and christianophobie.fr