TWO First World War memorial plaques stolen from the lychgate of a parish church in Kent have been recovered — though one among them is the more serious for wear.
The community of Christ Church, Luton, within the diocese of Rochester, had been “devastated” to listen to 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 present in two scrapyards situated in Essex. Ms Leonard, who described herself as “overjoyed” at their return, said that a scrap dealer bought one among the plaques, “knowing that it was all being recorded on CCTV, after which called the police”. His motion 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 offended once they’d got over the initial shock. They desired to exit and lynch someone. We had a cup of coffee and a biscuit to calm down, talked about it and processed it, after which prayed for good to return out of it,” Ms Leonard continued.
She believes that the “huge” media outcry, fuelled by the proven 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 everywhere, not only the local area, and offering rewards and things like that.”
Andrea LeonardJonathon Pout, the pinnacle gardener of Christ Church, Luton, who discovered the war-memorial plaques missing
Seven men from the Dartford and Medway areas have been arrested in reference to 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 corporate answerable for their production not 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 in the event that they could do anything”. Should that not be possible, she says, she’s going to start a GoFundMe page. She is currently involved with the War Memorials Trust.
She suggests that the damage might have been a part of an try and disguise what the plaque was. “The frame’s been taken off; it’s been ground off on the corner with an angle grinder, or they’ve tried to melt it or something. But it was very robust; so there wasn’t so much [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 pc was stolen: “In a way, you think that, ‘Oh well, that happens,’ and you may replace it. But that is on one other level. It’s theft, nevertheless 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 within the case, PC Alanya Spiller, said: “Our team have been really focused on recovering these two items which are so special to the Luton community and the relatives of those that gave their lives within the First World War. We are hopeful that the damaged plaque might be fully restored.
“Equally essential is the duty of bringing those answerable for the theft to justice, and this work continues.”
Ms Leonard said that the safety cameras in Christ Church have been adjusted for improved surveillance.
