A historic church bell and war memorial plaques have been targeted in a growing wave of metal thefts across South Australia with pressure mounting on authorities to crack down on the sale of stolen scrap.
The latest target is St Peter’s Anglican Church at Mallala, around an hour south of Adelaide, where a brass bell was stolen from outside the church earlier this month.
The church theft follows the removal of plaques from the Burnside District Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial at Rose Park and The Gums Reserve War Memorial Garden at Tranmere, prompting outrage from veterans groups, councils and the state government.
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Police Minister Michael Brown delivered a blunt message to those responsible.
“Anyone who steals a bust or plaque honouring our veterans to flog it off for scrap metal is scum,” he told the ABC.
Veterans Affairs minister Chris Picton said he was “disgusted” by the acts against the war memorials.
“It was sobering to visit and see first hand the damage done to this historic site,” he wrote on Facebook.
Authorities suspect many stolen items are ending up in the scrap metal trade as thieves chase increasingly valuable metals.
The theft of memorial plaques has already devastated communities across South Australia this year.
More than 80 brass plaques were stolen from graves at Quorn Cemetery earlier this year, while further plaques were also taken from memorials at Wilmington.
Adelaide Plains Mayor Mark Wasley said the theft of the Mallala bell had robbed the community of an irreplaceable piece of its history.
“Things like this are part of the fabric of our communities,” he told the ABC
“These memorials are like a living time capsule.”
The bell was mounted on a frame outside the church entrance and is believed to have been stolen sometime between October 2 and October 8.
Wasley backed calls for tighter controls on scrap metal sales, saying recyclers should be questioning the origins of suspicious items.
“Scrappers need to be held accountable,” one local said.
The theft comes as police investigate a string of alleged copper thefts across Adelaide’s northern suburbs.
Three people were arrested after allegedly stealing copper from a telecommunications site at Waterloo Corner on Sunday.
Meanwhile, detectives are investigating a series of thefts from a construction site at Elizabeth East where copper wiring, piping and other metal fixtures have repeatedly been targeted.
The state government is considering bringing forward new laws aimed at restricting the sale of stolen scrap metal as councils push for stronger penalties and tighter regulation of the industry.