Church to increase its security following theft

The theft was from St Hibald, Ashby de la Launde

A church is planning additional security measures after a statue and other items were stolen.

Lincolnshire Police received a report of the theft from St Hibald, in Ashby de la Launde, near Sleaford, just after 14:00 BST on Monday.

The stolen objects included a large wooden statue, believed to depict St Francis of Assisi, a 100-year-old chair and a prayer stool.

The Reverend Mark Kennard said the loss of the statue made it feel like a "family heirloom was taken away".

A statue believed to be of St Francis of Assisi and a prayer stool are among the stolen items

The thefts were discovered when a church member went to cut the grass on Monday morning and saw the padlock on the outer gate was missing, said Mr Kennard, who has been priest-in-charge at the church for eight years.

He said the thieves had "broken into somewhere precious" and added: "In my head and my heart I just compare it to someone's house."

The St Francis statue had been in the church for several generations, and most of the stolen items were likely to have been donated by families, he said.

The Reverend Mark Kennard said the church would have to take more precautions

Mr Kennard said the church would increase its security measures and take more precautions due to a "lack of trust".

The church is asking people to keep an eye out for any of the items appearing for sale online.

The value of the items was unknown, police said.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.