A church was robbed and vandalised in southern France
A fort-three-year-old man, who has about fifty previous criminal convictions, was arrested on the 7th of April for damage and theft in the French Saint-Denis Church in the Croix-Rousse district of Lyon.
On the 19th of March, along with another individual, he attempted to steal brass candlesticks, but parishioners chased them away. Furious, the forty-year-old then climbed onto the altar and knocked down the cross, which suffered damage estimated at three thousand euros (around 3,600 USD). Not satisfied with this, on the 22nd of March, he returned to the church where he stole a candlestick.
One of the thieves, who happens to be the main perpetrator, was arrested. More or less homeless, he is known in the neighbourhood for repeated acts of vandalism, and has what appears to be a temporary residence in the town of Villeurbanne, where a candlestick was found.
In police custody, he said he had been drinking alcohol at the time of the incident. He is due to be brought to the prosecution on Friday for an immediate hearing.
Source: leprogres.fr
