TWO First World War memorial plaques stolen from the lychgate of a parish church in Kent have been recovered — though one of them is the worse for wear.
The community of Christ Church, Luton, in the diocese of Rochester, had been “devastated” to hear that thieves had taken the memorial plaques, inscribed with the names of relatives of members of the congregation, the Priest-in-Charge, the Revd Andrea Leonard, said.
The metal plaques were found in two scrapyards located in Essex. Ms Leonard, who described herself as “overjoyed” at their return, said that a scrap dealer bought one of the plaques, “knowing that it was all being recorded on CCTV, and then called the police”. His action led to the recovery of the second plaque.
The discovery that they were missing had been made by the church’s voluntary head gardener, Jonathon Pout, who had phoned the police last Saturday. Ms Leonard said that Mr Pout “didn’t quite know what to do with himself, because he was so upset about it”.
The volunteers “were so angry once they’d got over the initial shock. They wanted to go out and lynch someone. We had a cup of coffee and a biscuit to calm down, talked about it and processed it, and then prayed for good to come out of it,” Ms Leonard continued.
She believes that the “huge” media outcry, fuelled by the fact that Chatham was still a military area, with veterans’ associations, prompted the police to take the thefts “really seriously”.
“We had people contacting us from all over the place, not just the local area, and offering rewards and things like that.”
Andrea LeonardJonathon Pout, the head gardener of Christ Church, Luton, who discovered the war-memorial plaques missing
Seven men from the Dartford and Medway areas have been arrested in connection with the theft, and have been conditionally bailed while the investigation is under way. An eighth suspect from Chatham was arrested on Friday, police say.
The memorial plaques were made and dedicated in Chatham in 1920, but the company responsible for their production no longer exists. One of the plaques weighs 93kg, and the scrap value was £350.
One of the memorial plaques has been significantly damaged, and Ms Leonard has applied to the BBC television programme The Repair Shop “to see if they could do anything”. Should that not be possible, she says, she will start a GoFundMe page. She is currently in contact with the War Memorials Trust.
She suggests that the damage could have been part of an attempt to disguise what the plaque was. “The frame’s been taken off; it’s been ground off at the corner with an angle grinder, or they’ve tried to melt it or something. But it was very robust; so there wasn’t a lot [the criminals] could do about it,” she said.
Ms Leonard said that before she took up her post at Christ Church in 2019, the church was broken into, and a computer was stolen: “In a way, you think, ‘Oh well, that happens,’ and you can replace it. But this is on another level. It’s theft, but it’s desecration and complete lack of respect for the 163 young men that gave their lives for us to be free.”
Kent Police’s officer in the case, PC Alanya Spiller, said: “Our team have been really focused on recovering these two items that are so special to the Luton community and the relatives of those who gave their lives in the First World War. We are hopeful that the damaged plaque can be fully restored.
“Equally important is the task of bringing those responsible for the theft to justice, and this work continues.”
Ms Leonard said that the security cameras in Christ Church have been adjusted for improved surveillance.