A burglar in Norway escaped with a small amount of money and the remote for the bell-ringing system despite setting off the bells on the way out.
Nord-Trondelag police operations manager Ulf Bertil Wiseth said that they noticed the church had been broken into just before 01:00am on Monday morning because the thief accidently set off the bells when exiting the building.
The local pastor at St. Eystein Church in Levanger, Piotr Ostafinof explained, however, that they were not concerned about the cash that had been taken as it was already gone, but that they needed the remote for the bells back.
The church bells are all operated by remote control and it took staff some time to switch them off manually, but as the pastor pointed out, they will not be able to get them ringing again until the device is returned. He said that they were electrically-run and, therefore, needed the control and that if it wasn’t back before Sunday there would be no bells at the service.
Nord-Trondelag police have urged anyone who might have any information to come forward so they can track down the sinner.