Church loses peal after bell struck by thieves
Thieves broke into a small chapel near the town of Konitsa in Epirus, northwestern Greece and stole a bell that was more than 200 years old, in the latest incident of its kind, police said yesterday. Officers revealed that a number of churches in remote places have recently been targeted by thieves who are usually looking for rare icons or valuable offerings. However, police believe the bell was stolen so it could be melted down and sold for its metal. Locals seemed to think it was more likely that it would be sold to another church. «There will not be a problem for the Resurrection service because there is another church in that community,» said Konitsa Mayor Haralambos Exarchou. «However, the incident concerns us because the chapel is two centuries old and is of great historical and cultural value.»
