Arrest as stolen brass eagle returned to church after being recovered from Black Country scrap metal dealer
An historic brass eagle that was stolen from a church by a brazen thief has been returned – and police have arrested a 61-year-old man.
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The shameless thief was caught on CCTV stealing the Victorian lecturn from St Augustine's Church in Edgbaston at 11am on June 10.
Footage showed a man walk up the isle towards the heavy brass eagle – which is worth £6,000 – drape a blanket over it, and carry it out of the church.
West Midlands Police are continuing their investigations into the theft, but today announced that they had arrested a 61-year-old man who remains in custody.
At the time, Reverend Matthew Tomlinson was hopeful that it would return.
He said: "A similar lectern was stolen from a church in the Birmingham area last year but it was recovered.
"It appears the thief couldn’t sell it on because dealers knew it was stolen. We certainly hope we will get it back.
"We all feel a sense of intrusion and that our hospitality has been abused."
The eagle is said to have been returned to the church after being recovered from a scrap metal dealer in the Black Country.
The church has since engraved the eagle with the church name and upgraded their CCTV to prevent further crimes being committed.
A spokesperson for St Augustine’s Church said on X, formerly Twitter: "We are delighted to report that our eagle has been recovered from a scrap metal dealer in the Black Country, thanks to a public-spirited informant.
"We have taken additional security measures, including a motion sensor on the eagle, to ensure the crime is not repeated.
"Upgrading our CCTV cameras to 4000k & engraving the lectern with the church name are sad but necessary precautions to take, to avoid further incidents. We would like to thank all those who have worked to secure the return of the eagle, including the local community and @WMPolice"
The lectern is thought to date back to 1868 which is when the church officially opened.
Anyone with information that may help police with their enquiries is asked to contact them via 101 or Live Chat quoting crime number 20/572880/24.
