Church bells getting stolen in Missouri
Members of a country church near Falls City are hoping whoever stole their church bell recently will realize the error of their ways. In the meantime, they’ll ask for divine guidance for the thieves.
“We are going to have a prayer service for these people on Sunday,” church member Nelle Pfister said Thursday. “We think they need our prayers.”
Some time between Sept. 10 and Sept. 14, someone stole the bronze church bell that’s been hanging for nearly 50 years in the steeple of St. Peter Lutheran Church, 12 miles northeast of Falls City, USA, Pfister said.
The Richardson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it had received a report of a stolen bell from the church, though the office said it had no suspects in the theft.
Thieves also have taken an interest in old church bells just east across the Missouri River, according to the Mound City, Mo., News.
The newspaper reported Thursday that two bells had been stolen in the area, one from a church near Craig, Mo., and another from a nearby cemetery, bringing the number of stolen bells reported this month in northwest Missouri to three.
Pfister said the St. Peter bell had been at the church since about the 1950s. She said it measured about 32 inches across at its base and weighed between 750 and 800 pounds.
“We’re hoping they can’t melt that down,” she said, adding she believes multiple thieves took the bell to sell as scrap metal.
According to Alter Scrap Processing — a recycling center that takes scrap metal in Lincoln — the going rate for bronze, also known as yellow brass, is $1.40 a pound.
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