St. Joseph's Church in Pāuatahanui. Photo: Supplied / Ted Guise
- A church bell has been stolen in Pāuatahanui.
- The bell is more than a century old.
- Locals are outraged and hope for the bell to be returned to St. Joseph's Church.
The Pāuatahanui community is devastated after a 129-year-old bell was stolen from St. Joseph's Church.
Micky Reilly, a resident and member of Friends of St. Joseph's, said they found yellow trucker straps on the church's roof a few days before the bell was taken.
"A members of our friends group arrived at the church and noticed the straps.
"It was obvious someone had attempted to climb onto the roof."
Reilly said after that someone drove by every day to check on the bell, but by the morning of 8 October, it was gone.
"We're shattered.
"It's worth very little in terms of metal, but it's worth a lot to our community. It's sad and pointless.
"We're hoping someone might have seen something, but all we have to go on is the stuff left behind on the roof."
The bell was donated by sisters Eliza Mulhern and Mary Abbott in 1895. Photo: Supplied / Ted Guise
Hundreds of people interacted with posts about the missing bell on community social media pages.
St Joseph's Church in Porirua is a part of St. Theresa's Parish and is more than a century old.
It seats 100 people and is now mostly used for marriages and funerals, as well as Christmas carols in December.
According to Reilly, the church's bell was donated by sisters Eliza Mulhern and Mary Abbott when the church was renovated and enlarged in 1895.
"The bell has been there for 129 years.
"They paid for the bell themselves. It's an expression of the contribution of women to the church. Most of the other work renovating the church would have been done by men."
Reilly hoped the culprit would do the right thing and return the bell.
"It can be brought back to St. Theresa's, left with a local business. If someone lets us know where it is, we'll come get it.
"We'd really like the bell returned please."
Locals say St. Joseph's Church bell was taken sometime on the evening of 7 October or the morning of 8 October. Photo: Supplied / Ted Guise
Local Ted Guise, whose family is buried at the church's graveyard, could not understand why someone would bother to steal the bell.
Guise is also a part of Friends of St. Joseph's and helps restores and preserves the church for the community to use.
He said the bell, believed to be made of bronze, weighed about 30kg.
"The bell has so much history behind it. It means so much to so many people.
"Some low life has stolen it to sell for scrap.
"It's stupid, it's silly."
Police said they received a report regarding the bell on 9 October.
"The person who filed the report said the bell was taken between 5pm on 7 October and 9.30am on 8 October.
"Police are making enquiries to see if the person/s responsible can be identified. We ask that anyone with information which could assist our enquiries get in touch with Police via 105 and quote file number 241009/7587."
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