Roberts Chapel Baptist Church on Maxwellborn Road south of Piedmont suffered extensive damage after thieves took copper piping from the church’s heating and air conditioning units, propane tanks and a light switch sometime last month, according to a police report.
Calhoun County Chief Deputy Matthew Wade said no cost had been estimated for the damage as of Wednesday morning.
Notable in the thefts, Wade said, was the three-quarter-inch copper piping taken from a propane tank. Wade said the piping was “unusual” and no longer used in modern propane tanks, and could possibly be used to trace the thefts back to the church if reported found at scrap metal yards.
According to Wade, churches have become common hotspots for copper thieves who rely on easy targets to make clean and quick getaways.
“Metal thieves will go anywhere and everywhere that they can get scrap metal,” Wade said. “With churches, they pretty much know that people aren’t going to be there.”
Wade said he didn’t know how church officials discovered the thefts or why they were not reported sooner.
Calls to the church’s pastor, the Rev. Calvin Brooks, were not immediately returned Wednesday morning.
Staff writer Brian Anderson: 256-235-3546. On Twitter @BAnderson_Star.
