It is a real sword of Damocles which hovers above the parishes of the diocese of Poitiers.
Since May 2021, fourteen churches in Vienne and neighboring towns such as Angoulême and Limoges have been burgled by criminals, learned from the Poitiers
Le Figaro
gendarmerie company , confirming information from France Info.
Read alsoThefts from churches on the rise
Called upon by the multiplication of complaints filed, the gendarmerie decided to create a specific investigation group around these thefts, bringing together the research units of Poitiers, Châtellerault and Montmorillon on these facts.
The investigators also affirmed to have warned the Archbishop of Poitiers Mgr Pascal Wintzer as to the potential dangers which threaten the churches of the diocese.
Stolen and recast chalices and monstrances
"
The main difficulty is that there are almost never any traces of break-in or DNA, since these are places open to the public
", explains to
Figaro
the commander of the Poitiers gendarmerie company Nicolas Chartoire, in charge of investigations. The only way to find the trace of these thugs is therefore currently the telephone: since November, the investigators peel the registers in order to try to identify the same number which would have emitted not far from the various burgled places.
For the moment, the investigators are looking at the trail of a delinquency of opportunity and not of an organized gang.
Most of the stolen objects would essentially be chalices and monstrances, we are told.
“
We suspect the criminals of having recast their loot, which complicates the task of finding the objects: once melted, they are transformed into jewelry or vases.
In other words, it is the metal that counts, and not the object in itself
, ”continues the gendarmerie commander.
Which makes the task all the more difficult and the hope of finding the objects more tenuous.
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Regarding the profile of the brigands, if they have still not been identified, the gendarmes succeeded in determining that they were probably thieves "
with an itinerant profile
", their movements being regular.
Other clues could support this thesis: most of the churches targeted are located near main roads, a strategic position to "
disappear more easily
".
According to the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Goods (OCBC), thefts from churches have been on the decline in recent years: if, in 2009, more than 300 incidents had been recorded, ten years later , the year 2019 only reported 220 cases.
The profile of thugs has also evolved over time.
In the early 2000s, they were more criminals acting in organized gangs and on command.
Today, it is rather theft of opportunity committed by isolated individuals who "
carry out scouting directly on site, in churches, or based on tourist maps
", explains
OCBC chief Didier to
Le Figaro
. Berger, recalling that two thirds of thefts committed in churches are carried out without breaking and entering, during the day, and when the place is open to the public.
Conditions allowing thieves to go incognito.