Fredericton parish in ‘bewilderment’ over church bell stolen days after Christmas
CBC
Christmas is often a time of gathering and community for church communities, but one church on the outskirts of Fredericton found itself a victim of theft this holiday season.
A large, historic bell, chained up on display at ground level next to St. Peter’s Anglican Church on Woodstock Road, was swiped in the early morning hours of a cold night just days after Christmas.
“We'd like our bell back, please,” said Ross Hebb, who served as minister at St. Peter’s from 1996 to 2022.
“Just imagine, you know, [if] they went down to the front of the Government House or the Beaverbrook Museum and swiped the statue. There would be quite an outcry there, and it's the same sort of thing.”
Hebb said the congregation has had its ups and downs in size, but a tight-knit group still attends services at the church, which was built in 1837.
Parishioners noticed the bell’s chains were loose on Christmas Eve but attributed this to the cold, blustery weather at the time, he said.
“But it's now speculated that the thieves came by and cut off the chains to get access to be able to take the bell away,” Hebb said, “And then they discovered how many hundreds of pounds the bell weighed and weren't able to abscond with it at that time.”
Hebb said members of the church community were upset over the theft, “but it mainly is bewilderment, you know, that we now live in the day and age and that people would have such a lack of respect that they would steal historic church bells.”
He estimated the bell is several hundred pounds and likely is mostly made of brass.
A spokesperson for the Fredericton police said in an email statement on Tuesday that they were investigating a stolen bell but could not share any details.
Later that evening, the force posted on social media that the bell was stolen at about 2:15 a.m. on Dec. 29.
The post included a grainy photo of a black pickup truck with no licence plate visible. Police are seeking information about the pickup.
Both the church and the spot where the bell hung are clearly visible from Woodstock Road, a busy corridor into downtown Fredericton from the western suburbs along the city's south side.
Hebb said the security camera footage was not from the church but a neighbouring property.
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