Week of ungodliness: Diewe poo on pulpit of church robbed five days in row
|Published
TARGETED: Eureka Lutheran Church on 35 Street in Eureka Estate.
An Elsies River church has been closed after heartless skelms vandalised it five nights in a row last week – and even took a dump on the pulpit.
The Eureka Lutheran Church along 35th Street in Eureka Estate was broken into every night from last week Saturday until Wednesday.
According to Thelo Wakefield, the chairperson of the congregational council, the holy site is broken into on a regular basis, resulting in thousands of rands of damage.
“The first time it happened the church hall was burned down, the damage was about R250 000, then we fixed it,” he explained.
Wakefield said they’ve installed electrical fencing, burglar bars and spotlights to deter the diewe, but that hasn’t worked either.
“They broke that down too. By now the church has been broken into 15 times already,” he added.
“There is no church service until further notice because our church has been demolished.
“They came through the roof and we have had a break-in on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We are sitting with costly damages.
“On Thursday we removed the organ from the church because we were scared they would come back.”
The stolen goods include speakers, taps, gas tanks and stoves, while all the electrical wires have been ripped out of the wall. The security alarm system was also smashed, along with two stoves and a fridge.
When the Daily Voice arrived at the church on Sunday, human poo was found on the pulpit as well.
Caretaker Andre Stander said: “I haven’t had time to clean up yet because I had to wait for the forensics team to come and take fingerprints, but I came across this toilet paper. I don’t know if the person doesn’t know where the toilet is but he decided to do it just here on the pulpit.”
Wakefield said they had to rewire the electrical system and replace the stolen goods and broken roof.
The church is offering a R5 000 reward for information that will lead to a successful prosecution.
“That reward comes from a sponsor, not from church money because we do not have money. We have made many cases but no arrests have been made so far,” Wakefield added. Police had not responded for comment at the time of going to press.