The Stephen’s Church in Beilen is ten copper drainpipes lighter. Copper thieves struck and only left two of them behind. “They are probably disturbed in their work,” says sexton Bas Ploeg of the church. “The brackets were already loosened.”
The theft was noticed by Ploeg yesterday morning when he was standing at the front door with the clockmaker. “We came there to repair the tower clock,” he explains. He soon realized that something was wrong.
They discovered that 10 copper drainpipes were missing from the church. The theft probably took place on Sunday or Monday night, the sexton thinks. Because there were still concerts in the church at the weekend and no one noticed that the drain pipes were missing.
The lower part of the pipes has been included. The sexton explains that there is a corner connection where they were probably taken off. “We are of course shocked and a bit angry. Who would do something like that?”, Ploeg wonders out loud.
At the church they were aware that copper thieves were active in the north. They were also victims a long time ago. “Every once in a while it’s your turn.”
The missing downspouts are replaced by a plastic variant in the same color as the real copper. The hope is that this will protect the Stephen’s Church in Beilen from future copper thefts.