A report published today has claimed that one in six churches in the UK are being targeted by thieves or falling victim to arson or other attacks, according to the Times.
The theft of lead from the roofs of churches is apparently one of the reasons behind a rise in insurance claims by churches which is estimated at around £25 million per year.
The Times reports that the problem for churches is that because most are listed buildings they have to conform to rules set by bodies such as English Heritage that say stolen lead must be replace with lead again. The report claims that thieves wait for lead to be replaced and target the church again.
Advice offered in the article to try and reduce the number of incidents includes perimeter fences and "carefully chosen defensive planting of thorny bushes in and around church grounds".
In related news, the BBC recently reported that a man and a woman had been arrested in connection with the UK's largest ever metal theft, in which scrap metal up to a value of £700,000 was discovered in a house in Staffordshire.
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