POLICE are investigating a spate of thefts from churches in North Yorkshire which have seen valuable furniture stolen.

The first theft happened between October 16 and 28 when an octagonal oak table, valued at £600 and bearing a Mousey Thompson signature, was taken from All Saints Church in Kirby Overblow.

Thieves also took a wooden table worth between £2,500 and £3,000 from the rear of the Church of Immaculate Conception in Sicklinghall, near Harrogate, between noon and 5.30pm on November 9, and a £2,000 solid oak bishop’s chair from Burnsall and Appletreewick Parochial Church between November 20 and 26. Both pieces also have the Mouseman signature carved into them.

Further thefts have seen two carved oak chairs valued at £800 and an antique pike staff stolen from St Oswald’s Church in Arncliffe between November 30 and December 4, and a second crime at Sicklinghall where a Mouseman bible stand was stolen from St Peter’s Church on Main Street on December 2.

Pc Claire Brown of the Harrogate Priority Crime Team said: “Stealing from churches is a pretty callous and heartless crime.

“The thefts are likely to have occurred during the day while the churches were open, and many of the items are heavy and would have required at least two people to lift them.”

Anybody with information, including antique dealers and owners of second-hand shops who may have been offered the furniture for sale, should phone Pc Brown on 0845 6060 247 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.