The congregation at a rural Johnston County church will have to pay about $2,500 to replace four different sections of gutters taken from their house of worship.
On Sunday, members at Pauline Baptist Church at 501 Strickland’s Crossroads Road discovered where someone had stolen the copper gutters. The theft occurred sometime during the previous week.
There are no suspects in the case but the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office has assigned a detective to investigate.
This is not the first time thieves have stolen expensive copper gutters.
In June 2015, the First Baptist Church on S. Fourth Street in Smithfield reported 6 sections of gutters valued at $1,000 had been stolen. Thieves also caused about $1,000 in damage during the theft. About $2,000 in copper gutters were also taken that month from St. Pauls Episcopal Church at 218 S. Second Street. Two Wayne County men were later charged by Smithfield Police with the thefts.
In March 2011, several copper gutters were stolen from the Johnston County Schools AIG Center on Rose Street. A Smithfield police officer saw a truck run a stop sign around 1:30am that morning and while following the vehicle several gutters fell out of the truck bed. Police recovered the stolen gutters and arrested two Smithfield men on theft charges.
