$2M Gold Relic Stolen From Brooklyn Catholic Church

The Associated Press reports:

Police say someone busted into the altar at a New York City church, stole a $2 million gold relic and removed the head from a statue of an angel at some point late last week. The incident happened at St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, known as the “Notre Dame” of Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood.

The tabernacle, a box containing Holy Communion items, was made of 18-carat gold and decorated with jewels, police and the diocese said. It’s valued at $2 million. According to a guidebook posted on the church’s website, the tabernacle was built in 1895 and restored in 1952 and 2000.

It’s described as a “masterpiece and one of the most expensive tabernacles in the country, guarded by its own security system,” which involves an “electronically operated burglar-proof safe” and one-inch thick steel plates that “completely enclose the tabernacle.

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The New York City church says its stolen 18-carat gold relic was guarded by its own security system and is irreplaceable due to its historical and artistic value. https://t.co/hE4ZPyQb7B

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