Brass lectern stolen from Wiltshire church turns up at Romanian antique fair

And villagers now hope that with the help of police forces in both countries and Interpol, the lectern can be returned.

PC Steve Harvey, who received the email from Romania, said it came "completely out of the blue".

"I thought it was a scam email but it had a mobile number on it," he said.

"So I called the person, who didn't speak very good English, and he said he'd seen this unusual piece in a village in Romania and when he looked at it, he noticed the Ashton Keynes engraving.

"He searched the internet for some sort of news report and eventually ended up emailing me.

"We're now working with Interpol and I'm reasonably confident it will be returned."

Believed to date back more than a century, the lectern was the only item stolen from the church when it went missing last September.

Gaye Horrell, treasurer at the church, said: "It was too heavy to move around and the church is locked at night so it must have been dragged out of the church in broad daylight."

It had been on display so that visitors could see its beauty. The church is now considering how to display it more securely once it is returned.

"It is mind-blowing," said churchwarden David Clover. "I have helped move the lectern and it is extremely heavy.

"It would have probably taken two or three men. And to transport it abroad without melting it down first, it's like something the mystery writers would write about.

"When I was first told it was in Romania, I said, 'are you sure?' It's unimaginable."

"Our local police hope we will hear something very soon," Mr Clover added.

"I have offered my services to go out there and pick it up. It would need a van or a small lorry to put it in.

"It has been locked away for many years and as a church council, we agreed it would be a good idea to have it on display. Why deprive people of a thing of beauty in the hope it won't be stolen?

"We may have to view it differently but it will probably still be on display but anchored in some way. We live in hope."

The discovery of the lectern comes as an increasing number of metal thefts cripple communication and transport networks, as thieves capitalise of high prices for scrap metal.

Thieves have taken metal from garden gates, war memorials and sculptures in recent months. Police forces estimate there are now around 1,000 metal thefts every week.

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/564430/s/1ba14b8c/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Creligion0C90A0A0A9140CBrass0Electern0Estolen0Efrom0EWiltshire0Echurch0Eturns0Eup0Eat0ERomanian0Eantique0Efair0Bhtml/story01.htm

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