THE parish church in Okehampton has been left vulnerable to thunderstorms after thieves stole copper lightning conductors from the tower.

Unknown miscreants pinched copper strips from the tower at All Saints’ Parish Church in Okehampton on a Saturday night several weeks ago.

An eagle-eyed churchwarden spotted the damage after the service in the church the next morning.

The church is now facing a bill of hundreds of pounds to put things right.

Parish priest the Rev Stephen Cook said: ‘They have taken off long strips of copper that run down either side of the tower. It would probably cost about £10 in a pub but is going to cost us hundreds of pounds to replace, which is the annoying thing.

‘Somebody has come along and cut the copper off 8ft off the ground and ripped the conductor out of the ground. It has caused hundreds and hundreds of pounds of damage.’

A steeplejack was being engaged this week to do the work in advance of forecast possible thunderstorms.

‘It is going to have to be done by a steeplejack because it has to be done by a professional,’ said churchwarden Chris Just. ‘There are not many steeplejacks around, and this one comes from Somerset. He maintains our lightning conductor for us.’

This is not the first theft the church, which is in a relatively remote location, has suffered.

‘We’ve had oil stolen from the tank and ended up on Christmas Day without heating in the church, in the snow,’ said Mr Cook. ‘It would be fantastic if anybody would like to donate us some money to put the damage right this time.’