“Everyone is just so shocked”- Thieves steal Jesus statue from Salford church with electric saw

A huge statue of Jesus has been “sawn down” and stolen along with other monuments in an unbelievable theft at St Luke’s church in Irlams o’th Height.

Along with the statue of Jesus, which dates back to the 1920s, a kneeling angel and kneeling figure of St Bernadette were suspected to have been stolen from St Luke’s church between January 21 and 22.

The Parish of Our Lady of Hope, stated: “The parishioners are shocked that such a theft should happen to us. The statue of Jesus on the crucifix was originally in our old church and means so much to us.

“It is not just our parishioners but also our neighbours who find it unbelievable that we should be targeted in this way.”

The Parish of Our Lady of Hope said it was “clear” that once the crucifix was sawn down, it was dragged to a vehicle in the car park.

“This is definitely a planned and professional theft as they came with a portable electric saw,” The Parish of Our Lady of Hope stated.

“You can see how clean most of the cut is on the photograph. We would ask anyone who is offered these statues to get in touch with us and we are grateful for any information that will help get these three statues returned to us.”

Neighbours have so far been very helpful with doorbell footage. It is hoped someone may have CCTV or doorbell footage of the car park entrance between the times of January 21 8.30pm and January 22, 6am to see any vehicles used in the theft.

“This is definitely a planned and professional theft as they came with a portable electric saw. You can see how clean most of the cut is on the photograph.
We would ask anyone who is offered these statues to get in touch with us and we are grateful for any information that will help get these three statues returned to us.”

Communications officer for The Parish of Our Lady of Hope, Paul Ashton, told Salford Now that they have since been in contact with specialist dealers and salvage yards in Salford and around the country.

Paul said: “I’ve been in contact with everybody that I can trace that does religious statues as part of what they do and I’ve already had a response saying of course they’ll look out.”

While the police are investigating the robbery, parishioners and neighbours are doing what they can to piece together any information that may be useful in recovering the statues.