On the lighter side of the news . . .
A group of enterprising villagers stole a Russian church – piece by piece – last summer and sold it to a businessman at the rate of one ruble per brick.
Makes you wonder . . . wouldn’t someone have noticed a group of thieves dismantling a church and — I assume — carting away the bricks in wheelbarrows?
And has the incident spawned a new brand of crime? Grand-theft church?
See the article taken from Associated Press below:
Russian Orthodox church stolen — brick by brick
MOSCOW – Wanted: One missing Russian church. Last seen in July. Reward for its return. Orthodox officials in a central Russian region say an abandoned church building that was to be put back into use has been stolen by local villagers.
Orthodox priest Vitalyof the Ivanovo-Voskresenskaya diocese said officials last saw the two-story Church of Resurrection intact in late July. Sometime in early October, however, people from the nearby village of Komarovo, northeast of Moscow, dismantled the building, he said.
Villagers apparently sold it to a local businessman, one ruble (about 4 cents) per brick, Vitaly said. Orthodox priests use only one name.
“Of course, this is blasphemy,” he told The Associated Press. “These people have to realize they committed a grave sin.”
Vitaly said police were investigating the theft.
The 200-year-old building, which no longer had its icons and other religious valuables, was a school for disabled children during the Soviet era before it was closed down in 1998 and turned over to the church.
Vitaly said the diocese was thinking of reopening it for services.
The Orthodox church has experienced a major resurgence in Russia and has restored or built thousands of churches.
In poorer, rural regions, vandals or petty thieves regularly steal gilded icons or donations from churches and sell them for alcohol or drugs.
bedwards18