A waist-high donation box was stolen and a large, ceremonial candle was destroyed recently at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
“Isn’t that really something? It’s hard to imagine,” said Dick Flegel, a longtime parish volunteer who serves on the church’s finance committee.
Fr. Perry Kenaston said he noticed the three-foot-long candle missing about a month ago when he saw wax shavings on the carpet at the front of the church, where the pascal or “Easter” candle is traditionally displayed.
Kenaston last week discovered a foot-long portion of the candle in a church storage room last week, along with a handmade stand that serves as its perch. The candle is valued at about $300.
The beeswax candle is adorned with buttons and other features that appear to have been carved off by the culprit.
Flegel said this week he suspects a recent visitor to the church, who kept toward the rear of the church during services and appeared to be a “troubled soul.” The man apparently left town, Flegel said.
The missing cash box, purchased from a church supply company, is valued at $200. Kenaston said it’s unlikely that the box contained much money.
The thefts are only the most recent ones for the church at Third Avenue and Dalton Street. About a year ago, someone allegedly broke into a cabinet in the church and stole a bottle of altar wine. Last winter, parishioners found evidence that fuel oil was stolen and installed a locking mechanism on the fuel tank located outside the church.
Fr. Kenaston said the thefts are the first he’s heard of from a local church. “We’re looking at different options including getting (surveillance) cameras for the church. The last alternative is to lock it up.”
Flegel said he’d hate to see the church locked up. That would defeat the church’s purpose, he said. An alternative might be locking up just the sacristy, he said.
Ministers at two other downtown churches said they haven’t seen such crimes.