The community of the Church of Christ in Ainslie is searching for answers, after the church has been the target of repeated break ins.
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A break in at the Limestone Avenue two weeks ago saw the church’s office ransacked by a vandal.
It follows on from several robberies and acts at vandalism at the church over a five-year period, including one which damaged all the church's stained-glass windows.
The church’s associate pastor Chris Perrin said the multiple break ins have left the church community shocked, with the church having to make repairs stretching into the thousands of dollars.
“A lot of the community are very elderly and it upsets them,” she said.
“It’s an invasion of their other home, and it’s not just the church community affected but the local community as well.”
Mrs Perrin said since the break ins began, the damage at the church has steadily increased, leading to multiple insurance claims.
“We've had to fix interior walls and doors multiple times. It’s just been escalating,” she said.
“The insurance company is always having to pay up and having to replace doors all the time.”
Among the items that have been stolen from the church have been computers as well as several musical instruments such as guitars.
While Mrs Perrin said all the incidents at the church have been reported to ACT Police, no arrests have been made in relation to the break ins.
“The police have been really good, but they haven't recovered anything else apart from fingerprints. Burglars these days are getting very canny,” she said.
The church’s associate pastor said the most recent break in came just after the church help an op-shop sale at the site.
“It might’ve been because people keep money from the op shop on site, but we don’t,” she said.
The string of break ins have forced the church to upgrade security measures, with sensor lights recently being installed.
Mrs Perrin said surveillance cameras are also being considered as measures to prevent break ins from happening, although she is hoping it doesn’t come to that.
“The break ins are getting closer together,” she said.
“We don’t want to resort to getting cameras but we can't keep going on like this.”
Do you know more? Contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
